Guilty Sparks
by General Rage
Summary: Fleeing from the glassing of Reach in the belly of the Pillar of the Autumn, the crew of the SR-2 Normandy find themselves stranded with their UNSC allies on a strange Forerunner constructed ring world called Halo with the Covenant hunting them. But Halo holds a secret, one deadlier than both the Covenant and Reapers combined... and it's hungry.
1. Prologue

Guilty Sparks

Prologue

**Many Eons Ago...**

At long last, final preparations were complete. It wouldn't be long before the plan saw fruition. A sense of satisfaction permeated through him, but there was also a sense of dread. There was no denying that what they were about to do needed to be done, but the consequences of it were still readily apparent. Trying times called for grave measures however, and these times were indeed trying. There was no sense in retreating, going back, ignoring the grim task ahead of them. They had accepted that long ago, there was no changing their minds now. Not in their present forms. They had a duty to fulfill and they would see it through.

That was at least his conclusion. 343 Guilty Spark could only assume from previous conversations with his counter-parts that they shared similar thoughts. There were still troubling questions, but not in regards to what their task was. After all, they weren't activating the array, they were its caretakers. There was a difference.

But his unrelated concerns still permeated his thoughts as he floated through the halls of the lifeworker ship. Lifeworkers, their custodians, responsible for getting each monitor to its assigned installation, he wondered how they felt about all this. Was the dread even greater for them? They knew what was to come next better than anyone else. But considering how resigned to their fate their people seemed, Guilty Spark presumed it was no more worse than any other. Regardless they remained silent for the most part. They only responded to a few prodding questions, some even asked a few. Mostly about his choice if he had one. His answer troubled them, but he could not help but be honest.

He floated into the main chamber of the ship, past several tubes full of fuel and coolant. His fellow monitors were there already. He supposed he had been slower in getting here. He had been admiring the craftsmanship and design of their vessel as he wanted to keep a detailed account of the ship. It would be a long time before he saw any of its kind again, perhaps never again. He would soon be the keeper of an installation for the rest of his days. Which he knew would be a long time.

With that in mind he had settled on recording the lifeship interior for posterity. He wanted to hold this moment in time in his mind as long as he could. While installation 04 was impressive, as all the installations were, he still marvelled at this ship's construction. After all, its purpose was just as, if not more important, than the installations themselves. They played a role even after the array's mission was complete.

Upon this vessel of rebirth, 343 and his fellow monitors were to convene for the final phase of the plan, the Index collection. Just one of the many things they'd be guarding over the next unforeseeable amount of time. Of course this auspicious moment meant something more for all them. This would be the last time any of them saw one another in person. Communication between monitors was said to be plausible, but for how long they'd be able to maintain such long range communications was indeterminable.

Guilty Spark was going to miss them to say the least. They had not known each other for long, but each of them had gotten to know one another sufficiently in the short period of their existence. They were, after all, bound by the same task. A strange form of camaraderie existed between the monitors now and it was hard to imagine losing touch with them all so soon.

He joined the circle and quietly received his Index in time with the others. The vast amount of code flooded his circuitry and processors. It was not overwhelming, but it felt strange nonetheless. He would not be holding it for long of course. He would have to deposit as soon as he arrived in his new home.

As the monitors parted from the circle to speak with one another and await their respective portals opening, Guilty Spark moved among the group, searching for one monitor in particular. 049 Abject Testament resided by the grand window of the vessel staring out among the stars. The red glowing orb, contrast to Guilty Spark's blue aura, was easy to point out among his many fellow monitors. Almost as if he suspected Spark's approach, he spoke up.

"The void is truly fascinating." He said "I've never thought about how far we've stretched as a people. Strange, that I only think of it now."

"It is humbling I suppose." Guilty Spark agreed "To come so far and fall so low."

"An inevitable conclusion 343." he responded as he turned to face Spark. "Everything must fade. It is unfortunate that this is how we must go. I will be happy to just see this done."

049 floated beside Spark as moved to a corner of the ship, a little out of the ways from everyone else.

"Have you viewed the status concerning your installation?" he asked

"Oh yes, quite considerably." Spark responded somewhat chipper "However, it does not appear terribly different from any other. The landscape is mostly similar in all respects. I do wonder the purpose of the organic environments however."

"A way to conceal their purpose should anyone or anything arrive on them accidentally." 049 explained "Assuming anyone will. Supposedly they will be able to support some life in time, but that has yet to be seen."

Suddenly the two stopped and looked at each other.

"There is something on your mind 343," 049 said at last "I can sense it. Are you as concerned about the after effects of the plan? Of the rebirth so to speak?"

"Partly, but greater concerns permeate my thoughts currently." Spark admitted "Rest assured I have confidence in the plan. The Librarian has always been so thorough and forward thinking, but the loss of contact with the domain..."

Spark wondered if he should continue. What did it matter in the scheme of things? It seemed so petty in the grand scope. But 049 looked eager to listen.

"The history of all Forerunners will be lost to us Abject Testament." He said "All that our people were will be forever gone and it will no doubt deteriorate with time."

"This has been anticipated and accepted by the Librarian." 049 reminded him "It has been deemed necessary."

"But will future generations remember us at all?" Spark asked "Or will they only know of our weapons? It all seems so... wasteful to lose so much so completely. I wanted your thoughts on the matter. Do you fear that they will forget us?"

Abject Testament seemed to contemplate the question for what seemed like hours, staring unwaveringly into Guilty Spark all that time. He was not having difficulty processing the answer. That much Spark could tell. He was just trying to figure out how direct he should reply. Knowing 049 it would be as straight forward and simple as he could make it. As expected, he finally answered in a few simple words.

"We deserve to be forgotten."

It was as best an answer Spark could hope for and one he had no choice but to accept.

"Perhaps, perhaps." Was his only response

Abject Testament's portal opened soon after and Spark bid his fellow monitor farewell. Soon it would be his turn. Soon, he'd be forgotten as well. They all would be.

* * *

**July, 27****th****, 2185**

Liara T'Soni kept watch over her monitors, her tired eyes darting over the probes keeping vigil on the sector that had preoccupied her focus for the past seven days. Seven days with no updates, seven days with no contact. Just empty black nothing from what she could see. There were signs of ship debris, but too much for the Normandy and with no recognizable pieces. There was barely anything left of it to be frank, just scrap.

The whole thing had become nerve racking, more so than ever before. Her friends, Shepard, Garrus and Tali, along with everyone else aboard the Normandy were missing. Weeks before they had been by her side and now they were gone. Shepard, newly revived from his previous death two years ago by Cerberus, was now missing again and this time Liara didn't even know if he was still alive.

Weeks prior, her former commander had helped her repay a debt to a friend and destroy a dangerous enemy of hers. The Shadow Broker, the greatest information broker in the entire Galaxy, the person who had held her friend Feron for two years and put a price on her head for just as long, was now dead. She had in turn taken over all that was his. His network of agents, information brokers, mercenaries and spies, they were all hers now, all following her orders and her lead.

With it she had used them and the impressive stores of information inside the Shadow Broker's massive ship to discover information pertaining to an even greater threat, the Reapers. A race of monstrous machines waiting in Dark Space, slowly approaching their galaxy to continue a cycle they had been repeating for countless eons. The extinction of all organic life, which had recently been revealed to exist for the sole purpose of turning the species they harvested into more of them.

And they were coming back, to a galaxy woefully unprepared for their arrival.

Liara, desperate to assist Shepard in stopping this cycle, had found information she believed could help. A wormhole the previous Broker had found in an uncharted system on the edge of the Perseus Veil. What made this singularity unique was that the Broker's scans suggested that it was artificial in nature and had been created by something utilising extremely powerful mass effect fields. The only things that could do that were Mass Relays, the source of intergalactic travel, and the Reapers themselves. Realising the potential importance of this anomaly, Liara had given the information to Shepard. He had gone to the wormhole to uncover its secrets and that was the last she had heard of him.

All the information in the galaxy at her fingertips, all the resources and materials of this massive organization in the palm of her hand and yet she could not find out what had happened to one blasted ship. She watched as another scan came up empty. The frustration of the past week finally boiled over and Liara slammed her hands down upon her console in anger.

"Damn it, where are you?" she asked in a hushed fit of rage.

In the midst of her sudden outburst she heard another person in the room coming up from behind. She turned to see a single drell, her friend Feron, carrying a full glass of liquid. Feron was the whole reason she had been after the previous Shadow Broker before her. She had left him behind two years ago to save Shepard's body. He sacrificed his freedom to give her a chance. She had thought him dead since then. It had only been recently that her plans for revenge turned into a rescue mission, thanks to Shepard of course.

Free from his torturous imprisonment, Feron elected to stay on as Liara's new top agent. He was the only one within the organization now that knew the whole story behind her new job. He hadn't done much save for helping her sift through the massive Shadow Broker database and rebuild the network in general, but field work wasn't a big concern as of now. Not with Shepard and everyone on the Normandy missing.

"I thought maybe some Selvelana Blue would ease your mind." He said raising the glass up.

"I'll drink when I get results." Liara responded returning to her work.

Feron placed the glass down beside Liara and the dashboard. He gave the Asari a worried look as she continued looking at her screens, all of them showcasing a different part of the system where the Normandy had last been.

"Have you even slept yet?" he asked her

"I took a nap for an hour today." She admitted "That's good enough."

Feron shook his head in frustration.

"Liara, you're not gonna find anyone when you're half tired and running on fumes." He informed her "Take a break, have Glyph run some automatic searches."

Liara looked to the ever active little white ball of light that kept speeding across the floor of her information center. Glyph was a VI the former Shadow Broker had created. Liara had repurposed him of course, much like everything else. She still needed to fix one little glitch though.

"The Drell is correct Shadow Broker," Glyph cut in "decreased rest time leads to anger, hallucinations and a potential drop in operational efficiency."

Liara rolled her eyes at the little VI. That was really getting annoying. The identification protocols were the first thing to fix when she was done locating Shepard. She turned back to Feron.

"I will sleep when I know Shepard and my friends aren't in danger." She replied to Feron "I'm not pawning off my responsibilities to anyone on this. I have to be there when we find them. Send out another probe search."

"Liara we have probes scanning practically every planet in the system!" Feron reminded her "I think it's time we-"

Liara turned to Feron suddenly, an incensed gaze in her tired eyes.

"Time we what Feron?" she asked, guessing at the implication.

Feron, his hands held up defensively, backed a step away.

"I was only going to suggest we widen the search area." He explained "Maybe they're just not in the system anymore."

Liara placed a hand to her forehead and sighed deeply, embarrassed at herself, especially in that she just proved Feron's earlier point.

"I'm... sorry. It's just... well I led them there." She explained to him solemnly, rubbing her forehead vigorously.

"I know, but it's not your fault." Feron assured him "Besides, this is Commander Shepard we're talking about. Whatever he's gotten himself into he can handle it. Goddess of oceans, he beat death! I mean, what else can you say?"

Liara's smile returned slightly, her senses seemingly returning after removing her eyes from the screen.

"Your confidence is appreciated Feron, believe me." Liara assured him politely, a slight laugh in her voice "Still, I can't get over this terrible feeling that something has gone wrong. I'm not sure what it is, but I don't like being left in the dark about it. Not when Shepard, Garrus and Tali are all involved."

She remembered serving with Garrus and Tali on the original Normandy. The turian had a huge chip on his shoulder and seemed to have a great disrespect for authority. He wanted to punish the guilty, whatever the cost. Liara had been a bit concerned about him. Thinking of him as a possible loose cannon aboard the ship. She remembered how he had been suspicious of her when she first got on board, her family ties being suspect. Still Garrus had a good heart and it only took a little help from Shepard to make him understand the importance of getting the job done right, not just fast. He even quickly lightened up and learned to trust her.

Tali had reminded her of herself when they first met. So eager to make her mark on the galaxy, and of course the family issues and expectations. One could say she had the most to prove on that first mission. She was a lone pilgrim with a political leader as a father she wanted to please. As well as a member of a race ostracized by the galaxy trying to help bring down a rogue spectre leading the very machines her people created. Only Chief Ashley Williams, with her marked past in the Alliance military, had as seemingly big a burden to bear. Maybe that was why Tali and the sometimes xenophobic Williams got along so well. Liara had liked the little quarian as well. Almost from the moment they met. It was hard not to, everyone just seemed to gravitate to her curious and chipper personality. She remembered overhearing Chief Engineer Adams talk about how wonderful it was to have someone so enthusiastic about ships to liven things up in the engine room. She had also certainly noticed how Shepard seemed to share that sentiment, among others. Her mind chuckled inwardly at the thought of letting her Commander know then what the little jumpy quarian thought in kind earlier than he had found out on his own.

The idea that any of her former squad mates were in danger, as well as Joker and Doctor Chakwas who were also aboard the first Normandy, sent shivers down her spine. She had gone through losing two friends and just getting them back weeks before. She would not allow five more to die again if she could help it.

"If anyone knows how to handle themselves out there it's those three." Feron reassured her once more.

"I just wish they had left something behind." said Liara as she lifted the cup the dashboard, allowing herself a moment to relax. "Something we could use to track them. Let us know what happened."

"If they didn't whatever forced them to leave the system and go dark must've not given them enough time to do so." Feron suggested.

Not exactly a comforting statement, but it was better to think they didn't have time to think about making sure they could be found than the alternative. That still left the question of where they had gone standing though.

Suddenly a low frequency alarm sounded on the upper left corner screen. Liara transferred the feed to one of the screens further down quickly and surveyed it.

"That's a proximity motion alarm." She realised, speaking aloud "Someone is somewhere they shouldn't be."

Liara brought up camera feeds of the area of the ship the alarm had been triggered at. She saw nothing, at first. Narrowing her eyes closer at the muggy black and white screen she played back the last twenty seconds. She thought, for a moment, she saw a shimmer, a cloaking field.

"We have uninvited guests." She informed Feron coldly "Call up all guards in that sector now. Inform them the Shadow Broker is sending me to direct them personally."

"You need back up?" Feron asked

"No, stay here and monitor the situation." Liara ordered firmly "I'll take care of this."

"Any particular reason why?" Feron asked suspiciously

Liara got to the doors, letting them slide open before she answered.

"A hunch."

She walked through the doorway and let it close behind her.

* * *

**Several Millenia Ago...**

Alone. It had taken so long for it to sink in. Alone. Alone on this installation for eons, meticulously counting every microsecond, cataloguing every day, week, month, year, decade and century. All from the singular point he had arrived. To say Guilty Spark had gotten bored would be an understatement, but it was because he was bored that he had become so frustrated.

They had said this would not happen, promised even, and yet despite some minor fruitful weeks some time ago, nothing of interest had occurred. It had left him with so much time to think, contemplate and consider everything that had brought him to this point. He had even done something he never would have thought previously, re-evaluate the plan.

It was the only thing he could do. The mistakes that had been made were too clear and apparent now to not think of them. Floating through the various regions and climates of the installation should have provided enough stimuli. However it did not take long before he could recall every rock, tree and speck of sand he had come across. It was all so familiar to him now, nothing was surprising anymore, it was all the same and always had been the same. He recalled when he briefly tried a little experiment, releasing some of the environmental habitats from their atmospheric and gravitational connection to the installation. But that quickly lost its intrigue as it did little to show anything other than, yes, trees could not survive long in a vacuum. Not a very intellectually stimulating experiment, or exciting.

What they should have done was allow the various climate controls of the installation change and adapt over the years. The stagnation was just tedious. No environment stayed this similar for so long. Also, more indigenous species, he had already catalogued all of the ones currently placed here. They had emerged from stasis shortly after the plan had been enacted and allowed to thrive. But because the stagnation of their climate they had no need to evolve or change. They too had become complacent and dull. Their behaviours fully observed and recorded. If they had been allowed to evolve further in response to their changing environment then at least their changes in behaviour could be recorded.

Another thing they should have done was assign two monitors to every installation. Being alone meant he was losing focus. Losing focus on a task as important as this one was dangerous. After all there was more than just the array to look after, more than just this one installation. This place was dangerous in more ways than any carbon based sentient life form could imagine. Inexperienced eyes of course would not think of it as such. Again, the very reason it looked the way it looked.

Sometimes Spark wondered though, about his last words with 049. The danger this place posed seemed to prove his words correct. If someone somewhere discovered what this place was, well, think of the consequences. He already devised several terrifying scenarios, several possible ways something could go wrong. Perhaps it was best they were forgotten so that no one would find this place, at least not on purpose.

But the consequences of this array loomed and Spark thought back to that one accidental meeting so long ago. A crashing ship, an unknown crew, a chance to be judged and he had not reacted. He followed protocol and did as he was told to do. It was the closest evidence he had to life beyond this installation and he let it slip away.

Why guard this place if nothing was left out there? For all he knew those life forms were the last of a dying race, one born from the muck of their world long after the event had passed. Why guard against what does not exist? Perhaps leaving the ring would be better. There was a nearby gas giant. He could travel there. It would help him and he most certainly would not be bored.

A sudden tick occurred in his processor as he thought of that prospect. The idea of travelling the cosmos suddenly faded from mind.

"How unproductive of me." He thought aloud to himself as he floated forward.

His lack of focus was disturbing, even to him. Still he hated how often his mind wandered and was yanked back so frequently. As he moved along he passed by one of the indigenous fauna, a bird resting in a tree. Well, not a bird precisely. It's reptilian tail did have a semblance of a rudder, but it was still a tail. The fore-limbed claws on the tips of the wings were there as well. Definitely not bird-like. It only used those for hunting prey.

The creature turned its beak to him, raised its feathered crest on high, a display of aggression. Then it took off, scampering up the tree before flapping off wildly into the skies. The usual response, it managed to alleviate five or so seconds of boredom. The monitor moved away from the tree and continued on his usual patrol of the installation.

This all would have been a lot easier to take if he had others to converse with about these thoughts of his. Of leaving the installation, his on and off desire to learn what, if anything, they had accomplished. It was in his nature after all. He wanted to learn, to experience, to know, to re-discover all they had lost, all that had happened since he arrived here. If there was just someone to ask, someone to tell him about it all, but no there was not. Just him, a world lightly populated with mindless animals and the dangerous cargo below the surface. If only he could leave, just for a little while. Just to find out what had happened, to know that this was worth something. All of it had to be worth something. He did not just want to be told it was doing some good, but to know it was doing some good, that it had done some good. He hated not knowing. Hated that he had been seemingly forgotten and no one even cared.

Perhaps he should leave, just to satisfy that curiosity.

The tingle in his processor returned moments after.

* * *

**July, 27****th****, 2185**

The interior of the Shadow Broker's ship was designed for function, not comfort. Its hallways were cramped and narrow. They needed to be to facilitate all the necessary hardware to keep this vessel afloat in the skies above Hagalaz that resided behind the walls. Add to that the millions of bytes worth of data streaming through the cables and wires throughout the massive craft. Besides the Central Broker Chamber, any other rooms on the ship were rather compact and small. There simply wasn't much room for anything otherwise.

However a ship this big still needed a crew and despite its difficult living conditions there were no shortage of people willing to work aboard it. So long as the pay was good enough. Liara had quickly transferred most of her newly acquired agents to positions aboard the ship. The ones she believed she could count any way. The previous owner of this vessel had groomed most of his trusted elite guard aboard the ship from orphans and lost souls with nowhere else to go. Liara wasn't willing to go that far, so people looking to get ahead in the organization was all she could manage.

It had taken awhile to find the right people of course. She needed to find those she could trust among the network. Even though she and Shepard had done a number of the previous Broker's ranks there was still a big talent pool to go over. Luckily, Liara had all the time in the world to fill the positions she had emptied during her "hostile takeover" and the ship was now fully manned again, for the most part.

By the time Liara got to the area the alarm went off in a squad was already there in full force. They were carefully going down the hallway, keeping their guns pointed forward and their eyes sharp. Even with the hum of the various mechanical and electrical devices hidden in the walls there was an eerie semblance of silence as the squad did their work. They were slowly coming up to a series of information access junctions. They were the only thing really worth of value in this corridor. If there was an intruder somewhere, he'd be here. After all, the only reason you'd raid the Shadow Broker's ship was for information, this was an easy junction to acquire it from.

One of the guards spotted Liara as she walked up the hall. He was a human male in full body armour from head to toe. Originally the face masks had made her jumpy. They reminded her of the previous wearers and how they had tried to kill her in these very corridors. It was only natural, the red tinted eye holes and white pale helmets were meant to be intimidating. After awhile she settled, grew comfortable with them. It helped that they were no longer shooting her.

"Doctor T'Soni," he greeted "boss said you were coming. Could use the help, anyone who breaks into here has to be some kind of badass."

Good to see he wasn't underestimating the intruders. It wasn't easy for her to get in here after all, regardless of how successful the raid had been. Mostly she was just glad that they were being friendly. She had been a bit worried that some of them were aware of Liara's history with the Broker, that they'd question her cover story. The idea that the Shadow Broker decided to forgive Liara and employ her into the fold along with Feron was originally, in her mind at least, a difficult pill to swallow. Luckily pretty much everyone who came aboard bought the story or otherwise fell into believing it later. Making friends of enemies was a good strategy.

She supposed she could've told them the truth. She could've told them that she was the new boss now and their old broker who signed their checks was vapour. But these people were mercs, regardless of how friendly they acted. They were ultimately in this for the money and prestige. Again, she didn't have the luxury or the stomach to mould impressionable people into mindless drones. If these people knew killing the Shadow Broker was all you needed to do to take his or her place... well she didn't want to have deal with that.

"I believe they're using some kind of cloaking technology." She warned them "Do you have motion tracking sensors up?"

"Trying but we ain't getting a fix on anything." He replied

"Go for thermal then." She ordered "We may have more luck with that."

The guard did as asked, his helmet beeping with the sound of a switch in visor views. His head scanned ahead, near the data junction nook and suddenly his eyes latched onto the junction's far right. There was something just coming out behind the wall. Liara saw him raise his gun and a second later he fired a shot. The bullet whizzed past his fellow guards towards the data junction's corner and struck something. There was a yelp of pain, blue blood poured onto the ground and materialising out of thin air appeared a stumped legged short little alien. It wore a gas mask over its face and bright yellow armour and whimpered heavily as it clutched its arm.

The guards moved in on the injured intruder, rifles at the ready as they crowded around the data junction. The alien stumbled back and away from them, dropping what looked to be a weapon of some sort to the ground as it did.

"The hell is that?" asked one of the guards, very much confused at the creature shivering before them "A volus?"

A second guard began to answer that question.

"Don't look like no volus I ever-"

Without warning an energy blade burst through the guard's chest, his words cut off by a terrible scream of agony. Something stepped up behind him from the corner of the junction, its cloak evaporating just as its short comrade's did. This alien was taller, at least eight feet high, and wore sleek blue armour. Its stature and appearance resembled a turian, but not quite. It's roared a primal scream, its mandibles jutting outward as it. He kicked the guard off his sword and turned the second nearby.

"Holy shit!"

That was all the guard could get out before unloading into the alien. The bullets simply bounced off the alien's shields, which appeared to resonate around the creature's armour in general rather than a large bubble barrier. The alien slashed at the guard's face and turned towards Liara and the other guards surrounding the intruder. As the alien charged Liara threw up her hand sending out the only thing she knew that could stop this monster, a stasis attack.

The alien's charge was halted and it now stood motionless within the hall. Liara got in close and quickly followed up her stasis attack with a powerful biotic punch. The alien was thrown clear down the hall, but the reality of the situation soon became apparent to the Asari. More of the stumpy aliens and their eight foot friends appeared, three of the former and four of the latter. Each of the big ones carried those same energy swords and as her guards rushed in Liara watched them get cut down just as quickly.

One of the tall aliens in red armour grasped at the head of on the guards as he closed, trying to hit the intruder with the butt of his rifle. Instead he found his head locked in the alien's talons, his body thrown against a wall and stabbing energy blade in his back. Another guard was hit with several shots from the smaller aliens as they tried to retreat. His shields were downed quickly as what looked like green plasma struck his shields. Then, when they were completely gone, a huge plasma burst from one of the guns struck him clean in the chest. A scream of pain later and he was down on the ground.

Another guard was kicked clean into a wall by one of the tall aliens. Liara could hear the metal bend under her hired gun as he impacted the obstruction. The Shadow Broker guards soon realised a close quarters combat situation was not ideal and began to pull back to cover as the aliens regrouped in the junction.

But Liara did not move, instead she stayed at the front. She would not be a cowardly observer like her predecessor. She'd protect her people, not sacrifice them. She opened up with her pistol on the aliens using warp rounds. Her carnifex's bullets impacted the shields of the shields of the aliens, hitting them hard. Liara sent a warp attack hurtling at the closest of the sword bearing intruders, striking him square in the face. The attack set him off guard and allowed the Asari a chance to get the upper hand. She raised her hand, glowing bright blue as she did, and formed a singularity behind the charging aliens. The intruders were lifted from the ground, along with two of their shorter compatriots, and began to swirl around in the air. Liara then pushed both her arms back before violently throwing them forward. A powerful throw wave cascaded into the aliens, detonating the singularity and sounding a tremendous boom in the process.

The aliens fell back to the floor, slamming into the hard metal just as badly as they had done to her people. Liara quickly waltzed up to one of the downed alien and pointed her gun at his head. These things had busted into her ship, a ship she took the better part of two years to even find.

"What are you?" she demanded to know, an angry snarl on her face "How did you find this place? What do you want?"

The alien looked up to her with a weak look on his face.

"Your destruction is the will of the Gods." He said, seemingly without emotion and monotone in its sound. He raised a balled fist upwards "And we are their instruments."

Liara's eyes went wide when she saw what the alien's fist was holding. Acting on pure instinct she shoved her arm forward, pushing the alien clean across the floor. He slid towards the downed stubby legged aliens and in that instant he exploded into a blue fire ball. Liara shielded her eyes as the eruption took place. When the dust settled, there wasn't much of the alien or his fellows.

"You alright Doc?" one of the guards asked as he walked up to her.

"No, I am not." She responded flatly, still looking on the charred remains of her would be killer "Our only link to finding out how they located this ship is now gone."

The guard's head suddenly turned to the side and looked to the data junction.

"Maybe not ma'am." He said pointing.

Liara turned to see one of the stubby legged aliens crawling about the floor in pain. Without skipping a beat she quickly marched over to him. There was a concern that he was wired as well, but the way this little thing was moving, trying desperately to claw away to freedom, Liara doubted it had the resolve or the guts to kill itself so dramatically. In either case it didn't matter, she had questions, information to cipher from this intruder and being the Shadow Broker information was her priority. These things showed up not long after the Normandy's disappearance. That could not be a coincidence.

She grabbed the alien's armour around the collar, picked him up and shoved him into a wall. She pointed her pistol at his quivering face with her free hand.

"Your friend wasn't cooperative." She informed the alien with fuming glare "You are going to tell me everything I want to know."

The little alien could only bleat and whimper in fear as the Asari stared him down.

"Now start talking." She demanded "Where is Commander Shepard?"

* * *

**September, 19****th****, 2552**

You had to take what you got. That is how Guilty Spark now saw it. Any little thing to stave off his problems with boredom, his inability to focus, if it kept occupied for even a few seconds that was worth it. It was not easy, especially when you had already done everything. He had even reviewed everything he had done two-hundred-six-thousand-nine-hundred-eighty-seven times just to be reminded he had done everything he could do on this ring. He tried to focus more on his work, on his duty now and again. It was hard, straining even, but it helped keep him preoccupied. Staring into the void at night cycles, picking out stars, calculating the time until they went nova, monitoring the security systems, if it kept his mind think it meant less time spent mulling about his boredom of being here.

At times, Spark honestly wondered if boredom was driving him mad or perhaps even worse... incredibly and overwhelmingly sane. He longed for anything, even something small, just something to interrupt the monotony of it all. Some form of change, anything! He did not even care if it failed to answer so many of his questions about the outside world. So long as something happened. He looked forward to something, anything happening.

That was when the installation's proximity alarm sounded. Quickly he teleported away from his current position back to the security hub. It took awhile but in a matter moments he was back within the confines of the building, a blaring red emergency light and klaxon ring echoed through the halls. He looked at the screen and saw what the commotion was about. It was a vessel, fully operational and within unacceptable range of the installation. Protocol dictated anything less than one light-year removed from the ring was to be regarded as a threat.

This was not like last time, a crashing ship that he could not halt. This time he could make contact first. He followed through with protocol regardless. First he initiated a long range scan of the ship and then administered the warning.

"Warning, by order of Ecumene Council, proximity to Installation 04 is forbidden." He announced "Your continued presence will result in most unpleasant countermeasures. I must insist that you immediately change course and return to a minimum safe distance of one light-year."

There was no response, but the scan continued. The silhouette of the ship soon came on screen and the scan of the vessel proper commenced. It was a strange bulky craft with a large and cumbersome engine system, although its armour was impressively thick. Spark could not properly indentify the make of the vessel and could only assume it belonged to some unknown species. The defence systems were now locked on, even as the scan continued. Despite its armour the ship would be easily dealt with. It had no shields to speak of and their hide would only get them so far.

"This has served as your one and final warning." He stated once again "I have activated defence systems. You now have thirty seconds to return to a minimum safe distance of-"

The scan suddenly completed and the information on Spark's screen stayed his fulfillment of his function. He paused, information poured into his memory core. No, not information, answers. Thousands of years, condensed down to a few minor seconds. An incomplete but still exhaustive record of history, forgotten history, history he had long sought to know. And now here it was, on his very doorstep, looking him in the face.

Structures, discoveries, explorations, technology, biology, genetics, it was all here. How curious. Curious indeed. At once Spark deactivated the defence system and cleared the ship for access, he could not risk losing this chance. Even better, protocol dictated that he do so. For once, the rules were in his favour.

"Greetings humans, welcome to Installation 04. Ignore prior warnings and please continue." He stated cheerfully, but added a new warning. "I have disabled defence systems to allow your approach, but you must not exit your ship once you have arrived at the designated landing center. This ring holds significant dangers and even with your assumed legacy I must verify the presence and pitch of your geas before allowing full access."

Geas was the genetic subconscious command system contained with certain species. If it was still active in these humans this could prove very interesting indeed. But whatever the case, 343 Guilty Spark was elated. He could barely contain his joy as he spoke to these visitors, these humans. Here at last was proof that the sacrifice had not been in vain.

"We have much to discuss, humans." He said before ending the transmission "I have been away far too long. You have been away far too long."

* * *

AN: Special Thanks to Crow T R0bot for acting as editor for this story. More Later. Please Review. Thank you for Reading.


	2. Did we Lose them?

Chapter 1: Did we Lose Them?

**July, 27****th****, 2185**

Liara wouldn't lie to herself, she felt uneasy about holding a captive alien aboard this ship. It reminded her all too much of what her predecessor did to Feron. At least she wasn't using a torture chair, just an ordinary sealed room. That and the little alien and his friends had gone after her first, not the other way around. At least in that way she could say she was still the better person.

It needed to be done, whether she was comfortable with it or not. The Normandy was missing, her friends were probably in danger and this miniature gas sucking alien was their only hope in finding him. At least the interrogation process had been easy, the creature was less than loyal to his companions and easily frightened. She barely had to even play bad cop, so to speak. Like the taller alien she encountered, this little one was able to speak a language her universal translator could determine. From what she could gather it was the human language. Not perfect of course, he forgot verbs and adverbs and other proper speech patterns. It wasn't a stimulating conversation, but she got what she wanted.

Well, most of what she wanted.

As she looked through the glass window, peering into the room at their caged guest, Feron walked up alongside her. She gave him a quick look, not turning her head to meet him. She simply moved her eyes to him and then back to the little alien.

"Learn anything?" he asked after a good twenty seconds of silence.

"He calls himself an Unggoy." Liara answered simply "Analysis of his pack suggests he needs methane to breathe. The taller ones he calls Sangheili. He's not very forthcoming beyond that, he says he doesn't even know why they were sent here beyond some vague details, but from the way his friend talked before he blew himself up I can only conclude they're all part of some religious sect or order."

Feron just seemed to shrug at that a bit and exhale deeply. Liara had a similar reaction prior, nothing was worse than religious zealots, especially when you knew next to nothing about them.

"What about how they got here?" Feron continued to ask

"Their ship dispatched them to Hagalaz because they were the closest in range to our cluster." She answered, moving her hands from behind her back and into a crossed position. "Apparently, they received the order from a ship in the wormhole system near the veil. They must've found one of my probes, back tracked the transmission signal to this cluster or system somehow. Maybe even the planet itself."

Feron looked at her concerned.

"Did you notice any probes missing before they got here?" he asked

"No, I sent out a lot." She expressed, shaking her head in embarrassment at herself "Lost track, too many variables. It was inevitable something was going to go wrong. I've already scrambled the signals for all the probes, recalled them. With any luck they don't have an exact location on Hagalaz and we'll be okay."

She wasn't entirely sure of that, but it was all they could hope for in the long run.

"So... he say anything about Shepard?" asked Feron as he continued his prodding.

That was the big question after all. What did the little alien know about the Commander, her friend? The answer was of course little, further frustrating the Asari.

"I don't think he's lying, he's too terrified for that." Liara explained as she fought back her annoyed tone of speech "But he knows nothing, I thought I'd at least get something about Shepard. All I got is that he refers to him as some kind of false messiah figure. It's ridiculous and certainly doesn't get us answers."

"Well you must've got something from him." said Feron, practically pleading to be told they had a lead on this. If not for his sake than for hers of course, so his blue skinned boss would stop stressing herself over this.

Liara finally turned to the drell, but she didn't have all that much to go on from the sound of it.

"All he's told me is that he was stationed somewhere with a lot of sand and abandoned old buildings." She said "That doesn't narrow it down exactly."

"Well if the place is really dirty maybe he has some soil samples we can use to pin down a location." Feron suggested.

"My thoughts exactly," Liara concurred "I'm going to swab his armour and see what it can tell us. If we get enough material to work with I can probably narrow things down a bit, get us a location to start with."

These Unggoy and Sangheili came from somewhere. If this alien couldn't tell her about Shepard she'd find someone who could, one way or another.

**September, 19****th****, 2552**

**-5 Hours till Slipspace exit**

She almost felt at home down here, not just because it was an engine room but because of how big the space was. Back on the Migrant Fleet the engine rooms of their larger ships, particularly the Neema and Rayya, were massive. They had to be to accommodate the giant drive cores that kept the ships moving. Plus they were all so old, newer ships had more compact and narrow engine rooms. They were designed to be more efficient, less crowded, with fewer deck hands needed to keep things running. Not so with Quarian ships which were 300 years out of date or, as it seemed, the Halcyon class of cruisers. Although considering how old the _Pillar of Autumn_ was and that it had been forced out of retirement just before they arrived on Reach, Tali wasn't entirely surprised by the parallels she was making.

Regardless of how bulky the engine core of the _Autumn_ was, how outdated it seemed, Tali was still fascinated by it. New technology, no matter how old, especially when it involved ships, always got her curious. She asked the Chief engineer to take on a tour of the place when she first came aboard the _Autumn_. The deck consisted of two levels with a large catwalk on top of the core that looked down on the main floor below. Consoles lined the walls here while above little terminals sat in the corners of the walkways. All the equipment in this place was necessary if they wanted to keep the _Autumn's_ engine humming. The fusion drive core of the engine itself had four exhaust couplings, two on either side. These kept lock on the shafts leading to the main reactor. They were only to be opened for important maintenance work or, if need be, to vent the core should it overheat.

Not that anyone was about to do that now. That would mean shutting off the engine and no one wanted to shut off the very thing was currently keeping them alive. Tali and the other engineers could only hope that nothing went wrong that forced them to prematurely shut down. Given how long they had currently been in slipspace, however, that was always a danger. It was something humans called a catch-22. They were safe in slipspace for now, but sooner or later they'd have to leave it. Whether that would be when they reached their destination or if they needed to exit for some kind of emergency no one could really say. Tali was both hoping, and somewhat dreading, that it would be the former.

The _Pillar of Autumn_ had just escaped humanity's last line of defence before Earth. The great fortress world of Reach was now glass, burned to ashes by the relentless alien alliance known as the Covenant. The Normandy had gotten inside the cruiser just in time. It was the second time the little frigate had run from the Covenant, the first being when they were forced to fly the Normandy into a wormhole. That very wormhole was the core reason for their current predicament. It had transplanted them into this new strange universe where humans stood alone against an alliance of zealous alien religious fanatics. Now they were travelling within this floating heap of metal, fleeing an armada of plasma totting warships and towards a destination supposedly unknown due to a random slipspace jump.

That was only half true though and Tali knew it. The slipspace jump had not been as random as some suspected. The completion of a final desperate mission on Reach had seen to that. Weeks prior to the fall of the planet Tali had been taking part in a secret project with Doctor Halsey. It concerned the _Autumn's_ current artificial intelligence, Cortana. It would be more accurate to say though that Tali had been working on only a fragment of the AI's synthetic mind. Cortana's missing piece was re-installed soon after the Normandy took up residence in the _Autumn's_ hanger. Inside was a treasure trove of information concerning the Forerunners, the beings the Covenant believed were gods. Now Cortana's subconscious was loaded with knowledge of a long vanished alien species, the full effects of which she could only speculate for now. Tali knew one thing though, that it had helped Cortana choose their "random" destination.

The Forerunner data contained a starchart. It detailed the potential location of something important to the Forerunners. So important that they hadn't even written down exactly what it was, or they had erased that information prior to dropping off the face of the known universe. Tali wasn't certain which, all she knew was that they were closing on the coordinates. She'd have her answers eventually, so that eased the suspense slightly. She just didn't know whether or not she'd like what they'd find.

It was why she was spending so much time in the engine room of the _Autumn_ when she could these past twenty days. She was doing her best not to think too much about what was going to be on the other side of this jump. Best case scenario, something they could use against the Covenant to fight them. The worst case scenario was all they found was a damn church or religious site. Taking it would just piss the Covenant off more, something they obviously didn't need more of right now.

It was relaxing work at least. Thanks to her tinkering, and a bit of Quarian know how, she had been able to cut down the _Autumn's_ fusion core's energy consumption by a quarter and increase the engine speed by 0.09 percent.

"Eat your heart out, Garrus." She said to herself, thinking of the supposed king of calibration.

She was hoping when they got back to civilization there would be time to find a way to install a similar reactor on the Normandy. It would cut down on fuel consumption for one. Although they'd probably need a smaller one, maybe something like the secondary reactors on the ship.

Being down here so often also gave her more time to study the _Autumn's_ slipspace drive itself. If they were going to get their own working at optimum capacity and at increased speeds they were going toneed figure out where the flaws were in the human design. It wasn't too hard, she was Quarian after all, ships were her thing. More importantly thanks to Halsey's notes and the UNSC database she was able to come up with a number of potential design changes she could incorporate into the drive with ease. They already had a salvaged Covenant slipspace drive to work with, one of their only trophies of the campaign on Reach. She imagined she could get the Normandy's drive working, at long last, given enough time and materials to get the project off the ground. Sadly she currently had none of the former.

"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy," Cortana's voice spoke over the intercom "please report to crew quarters on deck 7, section B."

One thing about being a big ship, they had to incredibly specific when they wanted you somewhere on it. Tali had almost forgotten that. She was used to the Normandy and its singular elevator by now. She quickly signed out of the system and made her way out of engineering. She got a few accommodating waves as she left. It wasn't difficult to make friends with fellow mechanics, however only a few had really gotten past her extraterrestrial nature. Still, this universe was a clean slate for her. No one here had any prejudices against quarians specifically. If people didn't like her it was because she was simply not a human and that was considerably better than usual. Even then she wouldn't say the _Autumn's_ crew hated her, just kept a close eye on her more or less. Even so, they were still friendly enough and the few that honestly seemed to like her made her feel welcome enough.

"Hey Tali." one of the engineers called out as she passed by. She believed his name was Ben, if she was recalling it correctly. "I did that check on the intake valve like you suggested. You were right, needed a new seal. It's working at full capacity now."

"Glad to hear it," she replied "I'll see if I can come back later and readjust the laser for the ion slurry. We don't want them giving out under stress. We lose absolute zero and we could have problems."

She made a mental note that when she got back to her dimension she needed to go over these optical laser specs. The _Autumn's_ method of cooling a slurry of ions to absolute zero temperature was far less problematic than coolant pumps and valves. She had already devised several ways it could be applied to Quarian ships.

Tali now left the engine room, feeling a little less distress over things than usual. It was good to keep busy, especially when you were on the run. She wasn't the only one who had carved out a niche in the short couple of weeks they had been here. For example, Miranda had taken up the habit of juggling XO duties for the Normandy and playing the liaison between the two ships and their wildly different crews. Nothing too major, it wasn't like fights were breaking out every other day. She was essentially keeping tabs on supplies, rotating sleeping quarters, administrative duties, things like that. She didn't stay in one place to long, although Tali had a feeling some of the Marines and troopers aboard wished she did.

Another of the Normandy crew that had settled into the new space nicely was Garrus. Who currently was just outside engineering in one of the many armoury rooms that dotted the _Autumn_. He was just coming out with one of the UNSC sniper rifles, almost bumping straight into the quarian.

"Tali, getting pulled away from the reactor core I see." He said as he started walking beside her

"Just as well," she shrugged "mostly just diagnostic work anyway. Making sure some of the tweaks I made were taking."

She turned to the partially scarred turian, his silverfish armour standing out against the brownish green walls. Her eyebrow was slightly raised towards him.

"Funny seeing you down here though," she told him "plenty of other places to pick up a rifle on this ship."

"Well I wanted to see about stopping by and saying hi or something." Garrus remarked with his usual upbeat tone "Figured you could use the friendly face, make sure everyone's treating you properly."

"Always the protective gentlemen," Tali snickered "you almost sound like Shepard. The _Autumn's_ crew is treating me fine all things considered. No need to bust any heads over me."

Tali's eyes moved over to the rifle in Garrus' arms. The turian had always had an affinity for firearms, but it just seemed a bit weird that he was picking out a UNSC rifle. Didn't he have at least two of those by now? Then she remembered why he had two.

"Let me guess," she began inquisitively "new project?"

"Last couple of integrations went well." He said "Scope and extra damage multipliers snapped on just fine. Now I wanna see if I can go the full nine yards and do to this what they did for the Mattock. A full thermal clip integration upgrade, it's something me and Jacob have been discussing it for awhile now."

Actually the idea had been thrown around before. If they could somehow get the UNSC weapons modified to use thermal clips it could help a great deal with their ammunition concerns. Worrying about how many clips and bullets you were carrying consecutively in addition to precise bullet calibre and the like was frustrating. The more they simplified things before they ran into the Covenant again, the better.

"You'll figure it out." Tali told him as they came to a service lift. "You two are the gun nuts."

"Well we got a few Marines helping us too, so there's that." Garrus added "Also, Sergeant Buck is going to stop by and give us his own take. The extra hands are always appreciated and they know the weapons better anyway."

Tali had almost forgotten about Garrus' new friend, Sergeant Buck of the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. He and his squad weren't supposed to be on the _Autumn_ but they ended up getting stuck there anyway when circumstances forced got them stuck on the Normandy. They had integrated into the Autumn's resident ODSTs currently stationed on-board, led by a Major Antonio Silva. Tali had never seen the man for she lacked the time for a visit to the ODST quarters themselves. Everything she knew came from others and they said he had a bit of a chip on his shoulder. One that was aimed squarely at four select people currently aboard the Autumn. Buck at least seemed alright though, Tali knew him and he was relatively polite person as well as exceedingly charming. Bit of a wise cracker though. No wonder he and Garrus got along.

They eventually came to an elevator lift leading up into the ship from engineering. Garrus was headed the same way so they both headed inside. Usually the prospect of getting in any elevator with Garrus wasn't something Tali looked forward to. The turian once had a tendency to be a bit of a jerk, but he had stopped... a little.

"So, is most of your time spent in the engine room or is the scuttlebutt true?" he asked out of the blue

As stated, only a little. Tali instantly knew what he was talking about, she had overheard things from the Normandy crew when she went back to the ship. Suffice to say it was a bit annoying to have him bring it up again.

"Someone has to keep up maintenance on Cortana and Halsey isn't here." She responded flatly, her posture becoming more defensive "If you're thinking what I believe you are maybe you should just come out and say it."

Garrus was quick to back off a bit at Tali's snap.

"Hey, there's no need to get all defensive on me Tali, I wasn't going to say anything." Garrus replied, trying to reassure her "It's just, you know, I never pegged you to be fussing over an AI."

"Is it really that surprising to you and everyone?" Tali asked, still sounding a bit angry "I've been getting along with Legion just fine for walled garden's sake! Can't a girl change her outlook? I mean come on Garrus, I try to get past my people's issues with synthetics and still people find a way to..."

She stopped herself before she went further, placing her fingers to her forehead. She was getting into some rather touchy territory. More importantly she hated snapping at her friends, especially Garrus.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm just being oversensitive again." she admitted, finally calming down "I just wish they wouldn't talk about this stuff behind my back."

"They don't mean anything by it Tali." Garrus assured her "No one thinks you're a hypocrite, least of all me. It's just... well even with Legion and EDI you never seemed to be so involved with an AI. I know you worked on a fragment of her and everything for over two weeks, but I'm just wondering exactly what you're doing with her and why? Everyone is."

She supposed some kind of explanation was in order. She just wasn't sure what to say. She barely understood it herself. She could just write it off as an assignment of sorts given by Halsey before they parted. It was partly, but not entirely. There was more to this, she just wasn't comfortable talking about it.

"It's nothing really." She partially lied "She's... just really important to Halsey and I figure I need to keep her running properly and all."

Garrus seemed to accept that, but he wasn't oblivious it seemed.

"Well, when you wanna give me the full details feel free to share." He informed her kindly "You know me, always willing to listen."

"Yeah, you're good with that." Tali admitted, her good natured attitude returning "And sorry for snapping at you."

"Given all the times I've been an ass I guess I had it coming." The turian replied

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Tali's stop, Garrus had a ways to go.

"See you later Tali." He waved goodbye

"Same, good luck with the gun." She told him

The doors closed and Tali continued on her way. It felt good to talk with Garrus, despite how the discussion almost got pretty heated quickly. She hadn't realised how little she had been interacting with most of her old friends in the past few weeks. She'd been so busy in the engine rooms of both ships and Cortana, she really only had time for one other person in the end.

As she walked through the crew quarters area of the deck though she saw other people with more active social lives than her at the moment. She passed an impromptu break room, set up to deal with the overabundance of jarhead Marines and their hot blooded Army trooper counterparts. More people got onto the _Autumn_ than originally expected, mostly Army personnel. Even though they were all in the same boat, old rivalries still lingered and the stress caused by the traumatic loss of Reach wasn't helping. So they decided to use some side rooms on the ship that used to be storage space and converted it into a place for soldiers to unwind. That meant a lot of canisters and crates had been moved out into the halls by now, but the corridors were big enough not to cause too much congestion. Besides, the troops got a space to play some hologames and watch vids if they wanted. No one was complaining.

This break room had a higher amount of soldiers than usual, plus one extra. Grunt, the ever violent and yet lovable tank bred Krogan was sitting at the very back of the room. The krogan had got on better with the UNSC crew than most, his stories about how he killed elites by the bushel and beat down a hunter somewhat helped. They still kept him at arm's length though. Tali didn't blame the Marines, after all Grunt was intimidating even for a younger Krogan. Didn't mean they couldn't watch vids together. This one appeared to be some kind of propaganda film involving an attack on Covenant forces. She couldn't make out much more than that, mostly just explosions, a quick cut of an Elite (obviously a human in costume) getting shot in the head, banshees getting blown out of the sky as UNSC air support flew in.

If only it was that easy, but who was she to deny these soldiers their fantasy? There were a few home grown quarian films that were very similar in tone. The enemy of course was less organic. She remembered enjoying them, whether for their content or because it was one of the few times her father spent time with her when she was young she couldn't say. She still felt a bit guilty for liking them now though. It was another reason for her to not linger too long.

Tali continued her way through the long corridor, Marines and troopers passing her by. She took a partial glance at one of the electronic information boards on the walls. Mostly it contained instructional information in the form of posters or news about what the mess hall was serving. There was one poster out of place on the board, mainly because it was so new. Tali had seen it once before. It depicted most of her fellow non-human crewmates along with herself in small portraits on a grid. The text beneath the pictures read "Remember! These ones are on our side!" She honestly wondered if it was really that necessary, if anyone would mistake her for say an elite or any other Covenant foot-soldier. But perhaps they were all so hardwired to be wary of aliens it didn't hurt to remind them of how things had changed slightly.

Despite that, she believed at least one person didn't need to be on that warning list, at least not for the concerns stated. Samara the Asari Justicar, among the most human looking of the xenos aboard the _Autumn_ and admittedly the most attractive. That just came with being an Asari though, no matter how old they got they always appeared to be in their prime. Everyone gave her looks, not that she paid them any mind. Justicars weren't big on relationships, according to what she read about them. That made them act rather isolated from others. Tali recalled how little she saw of Samara outside her room on the ship. It was with good reason, Justicars would bound by their code to kill those who defiled justice and committed evil. Not every instance was a death sentence, but depending on the nature of your crimes you'd probably get killed for a lot of things according to what Tali knew of the code.

However, now it seemed like that habit was getting nipped in the bud as Tali saw a lot more of Samara. In fact she wasn't too far ahead. She heard the distinctive noise of biotics being powered up and fired. She turned to the doorway and saw the Justicar herself inside this level's firing range. Of course she had co-opted it for less bullet oriented purposes. Tali watched as a cardboard cut-out of an elite was flung all the way to the back of the room.

"Nice one Samara." Congratulated the marine next to her

"Hitting motionless targets out in the open isn't that impressive Kowalski." Samara countered "Behind cover or moving is more of a strain."

"I can set that up for ya," Kowalski assured "give me a minute."

Kowalski was a marine that the Normandy crew kept running into, along with the rest of his unit. What little remained of it now at least. Tali recalled that the Private had built a rapport with the asari, not an easy task with a Justicar. It helped that he was a generally nice person from what Tali had seen of him. Were he a bosh'tet or killed innocents in any way Samara would probably have pulped his head. Tali just couldn't help but wonder though why he hung around Samara so much. Other than the obvious reasons of course, but he seemed like a well-meaning guy. From what she heard his rush to get to the _Autumn_ wasn't a very heroic story, more bittersweet than anything as it was the reason so few in his company were left. Maybe he was just looking for a friend right now to keep his mind off it all. Tali could relate.

She left without saying a word or piping up, she had some place to be right now after all. She kept on walking rounding the corner ahead and turning left. The doorway to the mess hall was now on her right and she quickly marched through it. There weren't many Marines in there at the moment, chow time had just about ended and if Tali could hazard a guess most of the troops on this deck were with Grunt watching the movie. The lack of people made it easy to locate the one person she knew she had been called here for. As suspected, sitting at one of the tables in the center of the room, wearing a Normandy Crewman's outfit, now lacking the Cerberus symbol he had personally removed awhile back was Commander Wade Shepard. He had two bottles and two glasses beside him. Tali just hoped neither were alcohol, especially since the last time this came up. She quickly rushed over to him at a brisk pace.

"Don't worry beautiful," he assured her as she approached "they're not hard liquor and one of them I can't even drink anyway."

He grabbed one of the bottles and poured an orange liquid into a glass.

"Mine is root beer." He promised "Yours is dextro-based grasellia, a turian fruit drink. I pulled it up from storage."

Tali let out a little giggle and sat across from her Commander. She pulled the glass towards her, keeping her eyes on him all the while.

"So you called me all the way up here for a date in the mess hall?" she asked slyly "My Wade, how romantic of you."

"Well I figured you'd prefer getting out of the loft for once on one of these." He shrugged "It does get a bit boring looking at my fish and model ship collection constantly."

"I like playing with the weird prothean ball artefact." She quickly countered.

They both had a laugh at that, but before long Tali was looking over at the few Marines still in the mess hall with them.

"You sure you're not worried about the scuttlebutt from our new friends?" she asked sheepishly.

Shepard waved at her dismissively.

"Relax Tali," he told her warmly "these people may not be big alien fans but they respect us, all of us. Besides, as far as they're concerned we're just two shipmates having a drink together."

It wasn't like they could just start kissing after all, Shepard had a point there. Tali always wondered however if the Marines would pick up on the subtle body language or other possible affectionate gestures. It was not that she wanted to hide their relationship, it was just she was thinking about how they'd start seeing Shepard. Respected or not, the UNSC probably didn't think highly of fraternization with aliens.

"Well if you say so Wade." Tali replied at last, letting go a sigh "But I know you wouldn't have asked Cortana to send me up here if you didn't have other things on your mind besides this."

Shepard bobbed his head a bit, she had it right, there was more to this. He couldn't hide anything from her it seemed.

"I was thinking a bit about what's ahead for us." He began "We're gonna be leaving slipspace soon according to Keyes. Meaning whatever is at the coordinates Cortana subconsciously jumped to is going to become very clear once we arrive. I'm a bit worried I guess about what we'll find."

"Not even Halsey knew that." Tali reminded him "Like I said, we just have the most basic information. All we know is that it's forerunner and it's important."

"Which is why I doubt Halsey would leave so much to chance." Shepard added "Was there anything in that journal of hers that gave any details about this venture of hers?"

Tali reached into one of her back pockets and slowly pulled out a small brown booklet. This was Halsey's journal, given to her first and only Quarian student just moments before they parted ways on Reach. It detailed decades of research, statistics, schematics, equations, personal thoughts, scraps of newspapers and drawings. It's accumulation of notes and pages stretched back further than even the start of the Covenant-Human war. Needless to say it was a lengthy read.

Tali had been pouring over the thing for weeks since they left Reach. Whenever she had time Tali spent the night going over everything in careful detail. She was happy that her visor's "text translator" function managed to properly interpret the words on the page for her. It felt so weird to read something that wasn't digitized. Despite the unfamiliarity she persevered, continuing her pursuit in acquiring a better sense of Halsey's inner workings and thoughts. Not an easy task considering the subject.

The good doctor had had long career, a lot of it doing some rather questionable things. The Spartan II project was Chief among them. Kidnapping children to raise them as super-soldiers was a huge sticking point and had coloured her in the eyes of many of the Normandy crew. The journal revealed how deeply ashamed and at the same time proud of the program Halsey was. Well, maybe not proud of the program but 'her' Spartans at least as she constantly called them. She had nothing but the highest praises for the Spartan IIs, especially one that seemed to stand out the most. Tali knew who he was, she and Shepard had met him once before.

But as to Shepard's question, Tali had no answer.

"I've read it cover to cover Shepard." Tali assured him "I don't think she had time to cover all the details about what she was hoping to get out of this. Or she was afraid of her own work falling into the hands of the Covenant at that stage."

"I suppose we can't begrudge her for trying to retain a form of security on her diary." Shepard reluctantly relented "I just wish she gave us a floor plan of some kind to follow. As is we won't know what to do until we leave slipspace and once we do we're vulnerable again."

Tali perched an eyebrow at the comment.

"Thinking the Covenant will jump us?" she asked

"I think the Inquisitor wouldn't want us getting away so easily." Shepard replied

The Inquisitor, how easy it was to forget about him. The lone Reaper in this universe who had sworn to continue its brethren's cycle of extinction as well as make it more efficient by finding new warriors for their upcoming harvest. The Covenant were its choice for job. No one had seen the thing in person just yet, at least not among the Normandy crew. But Shepard had talked to it and from what Tali had heard the monster was just as indifferent and conceited as any Reaper. It saw them as pests, barely even that. If their hunch was right, Reach had been all about finding the very data they now had. It wouldn't be far behind.

It didn't make the coming fight any less unnerving, but Tali didn't think they were going into it wholly unprepared.

"Halsey may not have given us a plan, but I do think she gave us something." Tali told Shepard "Or more accurately someone she had a lot of faith in."

Shepard seemed to instantly realise who she was talking about.

"The Spartan that Cortana was meant for according to what Halsey told you." He said knowingly "I remember. I have to say Tali, I still don't get why she trained you for so long with Cortana if she's meant for this guy."

"I'm Cortana's..." Tali hesitated a moment before finishing her train of thought, her fingers scrambling over one another as she did "well, mechanic I guess if you want to get technical. The Master Chief is supposed to work in tandem with her. She was created to aid him specifically. Plus she was already training with him at the time I was working on her fragment. Suddenly changing her assigned partner at this stage would be unnerving and suspicious."

That still left the question of what Tali's role in all this was supposed to be, other than the cryptic "guiding of Cortana's evolution" that Halsey kept bringing up. Only the quarian mechanic herself knew the full extent of what that ultimately meant and Shepard wasn't trying too hard to find out. Tali was thankful for that, she didn't really want to express it right now. Not until she had more time with the AI to sort things out.

"It sounds to me like we'll be working with him quite a bit." Shepard surmised "I feel a bit like a babysitter now."

Tali immediately shook her head.

"We're back-up at most, here to assist if anything." Tali assured "Even a super soldier needs an army backing him up and our crew alone makes up a small army. Halsey may be concerned about him, but not in the way you're thinking."

Shepard, his curiosity peeked, leaned back a bit and crossed his arms.

"She say anything about him?" he asked "To you or in the book?"

Tali opened the journal and began flipping pages.

"There's a lot of blanks to fill in but from what I can gather the Master Chief was something of a star pupil of hers in the Spartan II program." She explained "All the candidates were picked for specific reasons that she laid out, genetic and personality wise, but when she speaks of him it's almost as if she can't praise him enough."

Tali stopped on one of the pages deep within the journal itself.

"He was a born leader to her, special." She explained her voice low and full of resonance "Out of all the people that were turned into Spartans he was always her pick to lead them from the beginning. He stood out, someone who could take a bunch of scared kids and turn them into soldiers. He led them to take on impossible odds and more often than not he was the one who got them home in the end."

Tali looked up and slid the journal over to Shepard.

"He kinda reminds me a bit of you actually, now that I think about it." She told him

Shepard picked up the journal and looked into detailed sketch of the Master Chief himself on the page. His face visor and huge armoured suit stared back at him. The text on the sides of the page talked about a conversation Halsey had with him recently, probably just before Reach fell. She didn't call him Chief though. She called him John, his no doubt real name. To Shepard it was kinda funny, his mom once told him that before they settled on Wade they thought of calling him John. It was trivial, but to him just a bit interesting. He handed the journal back to Tali.

"Well if our favourite ONI Doctor has this much faith in him maybe it's the other way around then." He thought aloud "Maybe he's here to make sure we get out of this alive. It'll be interesting working with him."

"Just try to save a few of the Covenant for us when you two get to work on them." Tali giggled a bit.

But behind the laugh was a bit of unease. As good as they all were at their jobs they were flying into the unknown here. Reach was at least semi-familiar to them all. Whenever they were heading was born of Forerunner, something they had little experience with. Tali just hoped that they were all up to the challenge, whatever it was.

**July, 27****th****, 2185**

Waiting for results was always the worst part. Liara remembered that's what she hated about archaeology back when she was still active in it, the waiting. Always anticipating what age would come back after carbon dating tests. Patiently expecting a reply from the publisher to see if your findings were accepted or if your funding was renewed for your dig site. They always warned you the hours were long in the business of digging up lost civilizations, even for an asari. For Liara, she always enjoyed the act of discovery more than the procedure that went into verifying it, even if she knew how vital it was. Maybe that was why she felt she fit in so well with Shepard aboard the first Normandy. The Commander always got immediate results.

Now as she waited for the tests on the little gas breathing alien to properly verify where he had been it felt like she was back in her old job. She needed to do something, anything to keep her mind off the suspense. She looked at the little alien, the Unggoy as it called itself. Well, it wouldn't hurt to question it again she supposed. She entered the room once more, the doors opening wide as the two guards looked at her.

"You're relieved." She informed them.

"Sure ma'am, getting tired of looking at the little spud's ugly mug." Replied one of the guards

"Think ya can handle him?" the other asked cheekily, barely containing a laugh

Liara looked at the quivering little alien, shaking in it's chair. It probably still remembered what she had done to his friends.

"I'll be fine." Liara assured

The guards piled out and Liara approached the Uggnoy proper.

"What is your name?" she asked

It took awhile for the alien to speak up.

"Kayap." It squeaked.

Liara nodded once, it was a start.

"Where do you come from?" she asked, soon realising she needed to clarify "Your home planet, what's it called?"

Again the little methane breather took awhile to answer, perhaps trying to guage why Liara was asking these questions.

"Balaho." He said "We from Balaho."

She had never heard of such planet. It was possibly undiscovered, in some unknown region of space. It was a big galaxy, who was to say they had mapped it all?

"Where is Balaho?" she asked "What system? What cluster?"

That was to assume Kayap even knew what she was talking about. He seemed intelligent enough though, perhaps she just wasn't giving him enough credit.

"Not here." He told her "Nowhere here."

Liara looked at him confused.

"Where then?" she asked once more "Where is your home?"

For once Kayap stopped jittering about in fear and looked at her straight in the eye.

"Through hole." He said in a far off distant voice.

Liara's eyes widened slightly at that, but she didn't have much time to think about the ramifications. The doors swished open and Kayap jumped back in his chair. Liara pulled herself back and watched as Feron rushed through the doorway carrying a datapad.

"The tests came back Liara," he said as he handed the pad off to her. "The dirt on our friend's armour here was verified as containing trace amounts of radiation. Nothing substantial, but it was enough for us to find it. The colouring and chemical makeup also narrowed down the search. We came up with one positive match, Tuchanka."

The krogan home world, an unexpected place for Kayap and his fellows to choose to make their home given the krogan dislike of aliens on their planet. Not that they were there by choice obviously, the Uggnoy obviously weren't running this show. Liara still had to wonder why they were there and were the krogan aware of them?

"Then it seems we have a destination." Liara told Feron "Get the ship ready."

Feron nodded at once.

"You think the Commander is there then?" he asked

Liara looked away from Feron for a moment.

"No, I don't think he is." She admitted, not wanting to look completely crazy by telling Feron what she really thought just yet. She looked back up at Feron "Listen I need you to stay here and keep an eye on things while I'm gone. I'll contact you when I need you."

"I'm not so sure I should just let you run off into Krogan territory alone." Feron told her crossing his arms disapprovingly.

"I won't be," she assured "I'll bring a wet work squad along. And I have a friend on Tuchanka. He should be able to help me."

If he wasn't too busy running his clan of course.

"What about him?" Feron asked pointing behind Liara

Feron had a point. As Liara turned to Kayap she pondered to herself. What to do with him? He looked up at her, his eyes full of dread and face quivering relentlessly. She could keep him here, as he was, but she could use the extra intelligence on these new aliens when she next encountered them. She barely knew where to start looking when she got there and as much as her friend planet-side would probably want to help there was no guarantee that he could. Then again there was the risk Kayap would look to get away and warn his companions at the nearest opportunity.

Then again, would he even be brave enough to try that? Especially with a giant shotgun totting lizard was involved?

"I guess he's my bloodhound then." Liara reasoned.

**September, 19****th****, 2552**

**-2 Hours till Slipspace Exit**

It had been good clearing the air with Shepard again. He had been a lot more open with her in the past few weeks than before. It felt like the relationship was getting back to normal, as normal as it could be given the situation at hand.

Tali was making her way back down to engineering. She wanted to see if she could assist in the slipspace exit procedures, by now they were probably just about to get underway. As Tali made her way back to the elevator, however, she ran into a familiar face along the way. It was a friend from Reach, one of their first when they arrived in this universe. She was just coming out of one of the bunk rooms, shaking her head.

"Kat!" Tali said waving as she approached "What are you doing here? I thought your sleeping quarters were a deck or two up from here?"

"They are, but I didn't feel like walking all the way back up to be honest." Kat admitted "Haven't been getting much sleep lately and, well, just kinda stole someone's bunk for a few hours."

Kat wasn't in her regular light blue Spartan armour. It felt strange looking at her without it. You almost forgot she was actually a Spartan III, one of the best soldiers in the UNSC. In fact she was probably one of the few Spartans left. Tali remembered when she first met Kat's squad, Noble Team. There were six members then, now there were only two. She and Jun were all that was left of the once great Special Ops squad. Between them, Master Chief and his only surviving squadmate Linda, there were only four Spartans on board the _Autumn_. More than likely they were probably the last Spartans in existence to boot. No one was sure.

Kat was never one to let herself fall into disarray, especially with that kind of knowledge at the forefront of her mind. But losing so many people close to you had an effect on you. Tali knew that better than anyone. She had tried to help Kat best she could, even set up meetings with the Normandy's resident psychologist Kelly Chambers. They had somewhat worked, at least Tali had thought they had.

"Still having a few nightmares?" she asked Kat.

Kat shook her head.

"No, got over those quickly." Kat admitted "I guess I just figure I need to put in the extra long hours for... well Carter and the others."

At least she was getting some sleep now, Tali thought, they'd need everyone on deck when the Covenant made their move. That meant everyone had to be at a hundred percent.

"How's the arm?" Tali asked her, pointing at the appendage in question.

Kat raised a three fingered metallic hand, bristling with metal mesh and wires. Kat opened and closed her artificial fist a few times before stretching it out in front of her and turning it upside down. Full functionality, that was good to see. Tali had been worried at first how Kat's nervous system would treat the synthetic arm. Luckily there was enough of the old one left to simply attach the new model on, but it still required a little extra surgery to completely secure it.

"It's a bit weird, only having three fingers on one hand and all." Kat admitted, looking towards Tali in the next instant "No offence."

"None taken," Tali assured "I'd find it weird to have three extra fingers... and ears to be honest."

Kat lowered her arm to her side.

"So long as I can still shoot I'm good." She replied "Thanks again for the tech exchange. Never thought I'd be sporting an arm that looks like I pulled it off your robot pal but it's a welcome fix."

Tali was just happy she had helped a shipmate more or less, she was just happy for that alone. She bid her farewell began to leave when Kat stopped her.

"Speaking of your robot friend," she called out "I spotted Legion last night going through some of the ship's data files. I think him and his friend are doing some late night research."

Tali looked back with a disappointed look.

"Ugh, would it really hurt that geth to listen to me for once?" she asked annoyed

"I talked to him, uh, it I guess." Kat added "I think they were just trying to get some added data for your slipspace drive project."

"I don't need them to do that." Tali replied "I need them to not corrupt each other or something. The problem is already as bad as it is now!"

Tali quickly stomped off and tapped on her comlink, contacting the Normandy's AI.

"EDI put me through to Legion." She demanded

"Legion is busy overseeing data collection-"

"With DOT, I know, put me through." Tali grumbled through gritted teeth.

What almost sounded like an audible sigh ushered in a comlink channel transfer and in moments a new voice was heard over the line.

"Creator Tali'Zorah," Legion began "we were preparing an exchange of data."

If that was a geth's way of saying 'I was gonna tell you just now' then good. At least it wasn't going to try and keep this a secret then.

"Legion, what did I tell you about you and DOT sharing the same hardware?" she said, cutting straight to the point.

"You advised it was not a wise decision given our current system glitch." Legion responded

"And you did it anyway, even when I told you why you shouldn't." Tali informed it "Just because we saved her doesn't mean she is going to move in with you. I made her a nice stable hub to reside in aboard the Normandy. It's even portable, why do you need to carry her around in your platform every other day?"

Legion didn't seem to answer for a good while. Instead another voice filled the void.

"Legion suggested it would help increase data point reference count and search time functionality."

DOT, Noble Team's former AI information liaison, a bridge between them and command, now just an AI without much of a squad to relay orders to. She had no satellites to hook into, no cameras to peer through, no eyes of her own beyond the few Tali had built for her. She had certainly downgraded a lot from her glory days.

Not that she had a choice. Before Reach fell she found herself installed in a small transmission satellite orbiting Reach. She had limited transmission capability and satellite itself had been damaged. She was able to contact the _Autumn_ just moments it met up with the Normandy in space. She pleaded her case, they either let her download herself into the ship's computers or she would have to delete herself as per the Cole Protocol and deny the Covenant the chance to capture her.

Legion was quick to stand up and argue on her behalf. An AI based on intelligence gathering and information relaying could prove useful. It seemed like a logical train of thought, but after she heard of it Tali wasn't so sure. It sounded more like Legion had an ulterior motive.

"Let us save someone." It had said, at least according to Garrus who was with Legion at the time. "Just let us save someone."

If Tali had been there she'd have done the same thing, she'd had let Legion save DOT. After all, who could deny Legion the chance? For only moments before Legion had watched as another companion sacrificed himself. This time it had been a being of flesh and blood, one of Kat's squadmates, Noble Six. He had stayed behind so the _Autumn_ could escape. Without him they'd be debris floating in low orbit.

But even so, Tali was concerned. DOT and Legion had connected before, sharing the same hardware within Legion's platform. The experience had left a glitch within Legion's systems, as DOT's digital structure and programming was so vastly different Legion need subconsciously adapt. Legion knew this, and it was still letting DOT connect.

"I understand why you two did it, DOT." Tali assured "I'm grateful you're trying to help me with the slipspace project but I don't need you putting yourselves at risk. I don't know how sharing Legion's platform more frequently could affect either of you in the long run!"

"We are grateful for your concern Creator Tali'Zorah." Legion replied "But it is not necessary. I feel fully operational."

Tali stopped dead in her track and groaned.

"You just said 'I' Legion." She told the Geth, slapping her palm into her visor "That does not mean you're fine."

This was how the glitch manifested itself currently, as a burgeoning sense of individuality, one that Legion continued to not recognize. Everyone else could hear it plain as day though.

"This is true, Legion." DOT added "You did speak in the singular vernacular instead of a collective one."

Legion remained silent for a moment.

"To lessen further potential corruption we will halt present collective exchange with program DOT at this time." It relented "We shall return her to the appropriate hub."

"Thank you Legion." Tali told it breathing a sigh of relief "And just know I'm not doing this to punish you. I'm trying to make sure you don't get hurt or anything, okay?"

"We understand." The machine replied "We await further correspondence. Farewell."

Legion said it understood, but sometimes Tali wondered if under that calm exterior it somewhat resented her. Like it was a child being told not to play with a friend because of an overprotective parent, that the old quarian master was once again trying to stifle it, control it, master it. It was a thought Tali didn't like thinking, especially now. Were her old prejudices popping up again?

No, no, she was protecting Legion, that was all. There was nothing more to it, nothing. She told herself this as she continued her walk to the engine room. The thoughts hung in her head nonetheless, her fears still resonating. Quarians were long taught the dangers of repeating past mistakes. She didn't want to repeat hers. Not when she had Cortana to look after, not now.

**-5 minutes till Slipspace Exit**

Shepard had seen the bridge of the _Autumn_ a few times now and to be completely honest he wasn't exactly keen on the design. Keyes shared his criticism from what their conversations told him. The giant window was a nice view and all but it didn't exactly scream structurally sound. Now he knew why Geth didn't use windows. It wasn't entirely defenceless, even without any real shields the _Autumn's_ bridge was still located in the underbelly of the ship tucked beneath the long protruding bow of the cruiser. They weren't entirely exposed thankfully, but it was pretty apparent now why the Halcyon class had been decommissioned.

But they were stuck with her anyway and she was holding up regardless of her age. The rest of the bridge looked more proper, although infinitely more busy. There was also no proper Captain's chair among the various terminals, work stations and screens. As he walked through the room, crewmen in different coloured jumpsuits were all milling about and giving a salute to Shepard when he passed by. The Normandy's Commander had changed back into his N7 armour in preparation for exiting slipspace. He had also informed the rest of the crew to be ready for anything. He didn't want to risk arriving at their destination unprepared. It was well founded sense of caution considering the possibility of the Covenant being close by upon their exit from subspace. Soon Shepard found himself in front of the view window and the Captain's console at the end of the bridge. Now in front of him were his current commanding officers.

The first was Captain Jacob Keyes, the Pillar of _Autumn's_ boss, although apparently only by order. He hadn't liked the idea of being put in charge of a relic from what he heard. He hadn't known him for long but Shepard liked him, he reminded him somewhat of Captain Anderson back home. Just as smart, just as cool and perhaps even just as bold if his record was any indication.

The second was Colonel Urban Holland, the now defacto leader of every single Army Trooper taking refuge aboard the _Autumn_. Shepard had known him longer and was grateful to have him along. The Colonel had pulled his butt out of the fire before, and not just with military bureaucracy. He was a lot like Keyes, except maybe he was a bit gruffer than the Naval Captain. Shepard didn't want to assume, but he surmised it probably came with being in a different military branch.

It felt weird having two people running this ship's occupants. Technically because this was Keyes' ship, and Holland a guest, the Colonel had to play by the Navy's rules but that didn't mean he was completely powerless. He was the one who had to levee the troopers' concerns to Keyes in the end, which made him essential for keeping the relationship between the Marines and Army boys running smoothly. And if they hit the ground he was in charge of them, not Keyes. Of course, that was always subject to change. In the grand scheme of things they shared the same equivalent rank within the military. If something happened to one the other would step in and take charge. Hopefully that wouldn't be necessary.

"Glad to have you join us Commander." Keyes greeted Shepard.

The two shook each other's hands and quickly returned to the open view of the window.

"Wouldn't want to miss seeing firsthand what's out there." Shepard told Keyes "Been nothing but vacant subspace for weeks now."

"Don't get your hopes up too much," Holland advised "we'll probably end up seeing nothing when all is said and done."

Shepard highly doubted that, but no sense in voicing that opinion considering they were about to see for themselves anyway. Keyes then turned to Shepard, a slight worried look on his face.

"Are you still concerned our collective friends may be waiting for us?" he asked

"That depends on how quick they were sent out after us I guess." Shepard answered, largely unsure of what to think himself. "If I know Reapers they're very patient, but also very unpredictable."

"Let's just hope he didn't tag along." Holland added "We're not equipped to take on a Covenant armada as it is. Let alone an armada plus one flying space crab squid thing."

It was nice for once having people who took the threat of Reapers seriously. Sure it was still pretty grim to hear how bad the odds were, but at least no one was kidding themselves pretending everything was fine.

It was then that one of the side doors opened up on the bridge. Hobbling inside was another member of the Normandy crew, one that really shouldn't have been all the way up here.

"Hey Commander!" Joker greeted as he slowly walked up to the group of officers "We almost ready to leave hyperspace yet or are we gonna go to ludicrous speed instead?"

"Joker what are you doing here?" Shepard asked concerned

"I can't see anything from the Normandy anymore, just the hanger walls." He complained "I mean I'm used to watching stars zing past us and everything when we're travelling and we can't even get that in slipspace. I just wanna see us jumping into a system again, like we used to do ya know?"

Shepard understood Joker's displeasure at being grounded for so long. He loved flying the Normandy, it was his passion and he was the best at it. He could imagine how tough it was now for him, being carted around in a giant ship while someone else did all the flying. But as much as he needed to exorcise his cabin fever, Shepard needed him down in the Normandy.

"I need you back at our ship Joker," Shepard informed him "you'll be more useful-"

"Oh come on Commander!" Joker practically pleaded "I feel like I'm being driven around in a damn wheelchair here! I made it up here just fine. No bones broken at all, honest. Just let me stay long enough to actually see real space again. Please."

Shepard looked to Keyes and Holland, but they offered no advice at all. He was in charge of the Normandy crew only he could make a call like this. Against his better judgement he sighed and shook his head.

"Alright Joker," he relented "you can stay and watch but the second I say so I want you escorted back to the Normandy yesterday."

Joker did a little fist pump and joined the Commander at his side.

"Thanks, now let's get this party rolling already."

Keyes obliged the pilot's request and contacted Cortana on the dashboard.

"Cortana, are we ready to initiate exit procedures?" he asked

"More than ready, Captain." The ever confident voice of the familiar AI answered "I'm simply waiting for your signal."

"Then let's see what's out there." Keyes declared "Pull out of slipspace on my mark."

Keyes rolled up his sleeve and looked at a small wristwatch on it.

"Mark."

The _Autumn_ shuddered as blue flash dissipated over the bow of the ship and throughout the vessel itself. Everyone was pushed slightly forward as they decelerated into normal space once again. The familiar stars and nebulas surrounded once more. Familiar in the loosest sense of course, they were uncharted space. Far in the distance they greeted with the sight of a massive gas giant, coloured with reddish-brown clouds. Looking closer one could see a massive dot, similar to that of the planet Jupiter. No doubt like the home system's biggest planet, the dot was in actuality a storm.

"I almost forgot what it looked while I was stuck downstairs." Joker commented with a smile

But while their human eyes were locked on the big ball of swirling gas in front of them, the electronic sensors were picking up something else. Within seconds of exiting slipspace, Cortana called it to their attention.

"Sirs, I'm detecting a radar echo." She informed them all, sounding somewhat taken aback as she spoke "Something... well huge doesn't begin to do it justice."

Shepard eyed Cortana's console at that, AI rarely became speechless. At least the AI he knew.

"I take it you're not talking about the gas giant." Shepard reckoned

"It's orbiting the planet," Cortana elaborated "and I don't think it's natural."

"Put it on screen." Keyes ordered, wasting no time.

The command screen zoomed in on a singular portion of space as well as highlighted the precise coordinates up ahead. A pictured formed on screen of the object in question, a giant ring of some sort.

"What the hell is that?" Joker asked astonished

As the _Autumn_ got closer the object became more visible to the naked eye. Shepard walked up to get a better look at it. He got as close to the edge of the command platform as he could get without falling onto the pilots in their command chairs below him. He could just make out what looked to be water and clouds spanning the breath of the inside of the ring as well what appeared to be land masses. As they got even closer he could see the outside of the ring was entirely metallic.

"Definitely artificial." Shepard declared

"That's what my scans are confirming." Cortana concurred

"Then who the hell built it?" Keyes asked in response

A question on everyone's minds, but one no one seemed to be sure of.

"I have no idea." Cortana admitted

But Shepard had an idea, a very clear idea. This was what they had come for, it had to be. But thoughts on the ring were quickly put aside as Keyes fell back on more immediate concerns.

"Initiate long range echo scans Cortana." He ordered "What else is out there?"

"One moment," Cortana replied "picking up a few structures among the gas giant, possibly mining facilities. Also a number of proximity sensors surrounding the ring itself and-"

Not what Keyes was concerned with of course.

"Cortana, all I need to know is did we lose them?"

There was a brief silence before the AI answered. Then a number of purple pings appeared on the command screen, their locations were behind the planet it seemed, and she finally replied.

"I think we both know the answer to that."

* * *

All the way out here for a single human ship, half an armada to chase down one fleeing vessel. He had begun to doubt his own order, thinking he had made a tactical mistake, but by the grace of the Gods the endeavour had borne fruit. By following the human ship they had found the very thing they had long searched for since the Covenant began all those eras ago. It now floated in front of them, hanging in the void just before the tips of their ships. It was as the ancients described it in the old tomes and scriptures, perhaps even more magnificent than had originally been foretold.

Halo, the legend in all its glory was now before him.

Thel 'Vadamee could scarcely believe his eyes when he had first seen it. He wondered if it had been a trick of the mind, a case of mistaken identity, but it was real. The only thing that offset this momentous occasion was the fact that they weren't the only ones to find it. The humans had finally arrived at the ring as well and their presence endangered everything. There was only one course of action to take, eliminate them before they decided to land upon one the most holy creations of their lords. He quickly set up a communication link with his direct subordinate ship masters. The fleet would need to react fast before the humans had time to respond. They were only one ship, but a cornered animal was a most dangerous prey.

His ship masters soon came on the plethora of screens surrounding his command platform. His fellow Sangheili greeted him in kind with a gracious bow. As soon as it was over he got to the matter at hand. He stood up proud in his goloden clad command armour and addressed his people on the situation at hand.

"Fellow warriors, by the grace of our forefathers this shall be a glorious day." He announced "Not only have we found Halo, we have cornered the ship that is said to contain the one the great oracle warned us of."

Thel pointed to the human vessel ahead of them.

"On that ship," he announced loudly "the one they call _Pillar of Autumn_, hides the defiler of our faith, the human who uses the gifts of our own Gods against us, the one known to us as the False Shepherd."

Thel and the other ship masters grimaced at the name. The Great Oracle known as the Inquisitor had told them of this human. Of how the Forerunners had travelled to a distant dimension and seeded their technology there as well to help guide the masses of a new universe to greatness. Then the humans and other non-believers took their technology for themselves, gave credit to other beings for their creation and ignored the accomplishments of their lords. When one Oracle attempted to show them the truth, the infidel leader called 'Commander Shepard' killed it to maintain the fiction and continue their blasphemous perversion of their faith unabated. For this heresy, he would die.

"This task will not be easy for we know how strong this infidel's followers are." Thel warned his men "I need a status report, what is the current defence of the human vessel?"

"It has already scrambled a number of its fighters in preparation for our attack." Warned Ship Master Fetasna. "They are a minor nuisance at best and will be crushed. But there is no sign of the False Shepherd's ship, perhaps he hides."

"He will not hide for long." Thel informed him "This may be our only chance to end the threat prematurely. We must prepare to decimate the ship before it attempts to land on the ring. Inform all ship masters to form an attack pattern on my wing and prepare to launch all torpedoes on close range contact."

"No!"

The voice came from behind Thel, not too far from his command platform. He looked and saw an anti-gravity chair floating towards him out of the shadows. Sitting in it was a long-necked being wearing a violet robe and a dark blue cap with ribbons of fabric that cascaded down past his shoulders. This was one of the San'Shyuum, or Prophets as they were sometimes called. There were a number of them stationed aboard ships within the Fleet of Particular Justice. This one was known as the Prophet of Empathy, he had chosen to take residence aboard Thel's command ship, the Seeker of Truth. His motives were most likely out of a desire to increase his status, like so many Minor Prophets within the Covenant Hierarchy. Residing aboard the command ship of the most distinguished fleet in the Covenant Navy offered the chance of being present at the highest level of the decisions made within the armada. As well as give him the opportunity to inject his own orders.

"I have already discussed the situation with my brethren among the fleet." he said "We are all in agreement on this matter. Any protracted battle could endanger the ring! One stray torpedo could damage it, incurring the wrath and disfavour of our lords. We must use discretion."

"With respect your Excellency," Thel responded "I highly doubt a torpedo would be enough to irreparably damage such a large structure. More importantly, my fellow Ship Masters' are precise and true, their aim will not falter."

But the prophet shook his head.

"The risk is too great with the humans' proximity to the ring being so close." He declared "We have searched for Halo for longer than any of us were born. We cannot afford any mistakes at this stage. Board the ship instead. Kill the humans, the False Shepherd and his wayward flock of heretics directly. I have requested my counterparts relay our wishes to their resident Ship Masters."

Thel frowned at the suggestion. This could be an easy victory and the Prophet and his fellows were asking for them to intentionally make it difficult. Boarding actions were always risky, even when you had numbers on your side.

"Such a plan would lead to massive casualties your Excellency." Thel informed him "The fighter escort will make it even more trying."

"The preservation of the sanctity of Halo is greater than any one soldier's life in this endeavour." The prophet exclaimed "More than hundreds of our lives. Need I remind you the False Shepherd himself boarded one of our vessels and destroyed it with an even smaller assault team? Do you wish to display our resolve as weaker than theirs, Supreme Commander?"

Thel groaned inwardly, the prophet had a semblance of a point. The Sangheili were the warriors of the Covenant. Could they really deny that calling and kill their enemies from a distance? He still didn't like the idea of a boarding action, but if it was the will of the Prophets then at the very least he could try to do it right. He turned back to his Ship Masters.

"Send fighters to engage the Pillar of Autumn's escort." He ordered them "Inform all ships not aware of the plan as of yet to begin putting together boarding teams."

"Can we exclude certain individuals from the attack roster?" asked Ship Master Fetasna begrudgingly.

Thel knew almost immediately who Fetasna was speaking of. As much as he wanted to concur with his distain they did not have the option.

"I will be sending my own contingent along." He assured "It would be best if we did not exclude any resources we can muster for this. That includes... less savoury elements."

Fetasna grumbled and groaned, but he would do as ordered. This was no time for petty grievances or rivalries or dysfunction. The Prophet did have at least one thing right, they could afford no mistakes.

* * *

No one liked what the monitors said. Sadly no one could afford to just ignore them either. A Covenant armada was breathing down their necks and there was no way their one ship was going to kill them all. Shepard kept his eyes glued to the screen as Keyes discussed the situation with Cortana nearby.

"We made a blind jump, how did they..."

"Get here first?" Cortana interrupted the Captain. "Covenant ships have always been faster. As for tracking us all the way from Reach, at light speed my manoeuvring options were limited."

Combat reports were already coming in from the longsword fighters outside. They had engaged the Covenant attack craft, seraphs, just recon parties from what Shepard could see on the screens. Why the whole Covie fleet wasn't just blowing them out of the sky right now instead of poking them from afar, Shepard couldn't say. He could only surmise, from a similar situation he faced, that if they weren't using torpedoes right now then they would probably go for a more personal approach instead. He turned to Joker.

"I want you back on the Normandy, now." He ordered the pilot "Get it out there and fighting as soon as possible."

The Commander then turned to Holland.

"Colonel," he began "can some of your troopers escort him?"

Joker was taken aback by the request and raised his hands in protest.

"Commander, I don't need gun totting babysitters. I got here on my own and I can get back on my own."

"This isn't up for debate Joker," Shepard replied, his stance unwavering "I need you kept safe right now."

Joker crossed his arms and growled a bit, it was as close as he would get to relenting. Holland called up two of his Army Troopers from the hall into the room proper and they began to lead Joker back to the Normandy. Hopefully he'd get there before things got really hairy. Which, according to Cortana, would be sooner than they preferred it to be.

"So where do we stand?" Keyes asked the AI as he walked back to the command console.

"Our fighters are mopping up the last of their recon picket now, nothing serious." Cortana informed him "But I've isolated approach signatures from multiple CCS-class battle groups, make it three capital ships per group. In about ninety seconds they'll be all over us."

Holland whistled at the numbers.

"How come I get the distinct feeling that they really don't want us getting anywhere near that giant space doughnut of theirs?" he asked

If what Tali had told them about the information they had gathered from the Forerunner artefact on Reach was accurate, then Shepard guessed Holland's hunch was right on the money.

Keyes took his pipe out of his mouth and clutched it tightly. His heads drooped at the sight of the combat data and approach vectors Cortana had put on display. Shepard gave them a once over himself, he couldn't fault Keyes for his sense of dread. He wouldn't wish these odds on his worst enemy, except maybe the Reapers of course.

"Well that's it then." Captain Keyes finally announced as he turned back to the crew at large "Bring the ship back up to Combat Alert Alpha. I want everyone at their stations."

"Everyone sir?" Cortana asked as the klaxon bells began to ring aloud, sending crewmen running for combat stations.

"Everyone." Keyes clarified, he turned to Shepard next "That goes for the Normandy too."

Shepard simply nodded and placed a hand up to his comlink.

"EDI, I want you to send out a message to every crewmember." He told her "Get off your duffs and load up, vacation is over as of now!"

"Affirmative, Commander."

Shepard turned back to Keyes and Holland once EDI logged off.

"My people will be ready, sirs." He assured

"I'll get my best trooper squads ready to repel any boarders." Holland added "Anything in Covie skivvies gets a bullet in the eye."

Keyes seemed to smile at the boast from Holland.

"Good to hear that." He concurred, turning to the command console once more "And Cortana..."

The AI's holographic image flickered into view at Keyes' words. Her short neck length dark hair surrounding her delicate face came into view at last as did her most distinguishing feature, the black patterns along her body. Shepard wondered if they meant anything or if they were just there so Cortana didn't look completely naked.

"Hmm?" she asked as she appeared

Keyes' eyes narrowed as he spoke.

"Let's give our old friends a warm welcome." He said gravely

Cortana merely smiled that cocky grin she always seemed to have and answered thusly.

"I've already begun."

* * *

The obnoxious sounds of the sirens stirred her awake. The clamping of boots and revving engines forced her eyes open and kept them as such. At last, Jack had enough and rose up violently from her little spot behind some crates. It was bad enough that the quarian and the chattering nerd couple's constant tinkering kept her awake in her hidey hole, now she couldn't even get any sleep outside in the hanger bay. It was usually so quiet down here since no one had turned anything on in weeks. But now that damn klaxon siren had come to life and it seemed as if every fuel cell within a vehicle was following suit. Warthogs drove past the doorway carrying troops, speeding along the metal pathways of the massive hanger bay. Even tanks were rolling out of their little parking spaces. Worst of all was the pelicans, their blaring jet propulsion systems blazing overhead. They were loading up anything they could carry, mostly vehicles. Jack knew if they were doing that then they must've arrived at their destination, wherever it was.

"Damn it, I'm never gonna get any sleep." She groaned

She pulled herself up and scrambled over the crates, stretching herself out as she landed. Marines ran past her, barely even giving her a look. That was new, a bald biotic psychopath with egregious amounts of body art usually stood out. Fine by Jack, she didn't like gawkers, but it did seem odd. She hadn't left the Normandy much since they got stuck on this crate. She thought she'd be a bit more curious looking amongst the jarheads that populated this boat.

But she was recognized soon enough. As she turned around she saw two people rushing out through a doorway towards her, two people she knew. One was Jacob, the ex-Cerberus officer who she only slightly liked more than his counterpart Miranda. Jacob was just a goody two shoes, Miranda was a bitch. As far as Jack was concerned that wasn't really going to change, ever. Even if she didn't hate either of them all that much anymore, she wasn't going to be friends with them. She didn't make friends.

The other one was Thane, a drell, those were lizard xenos with freaky super good memory as she recalled. She kept reminding herself of that because she kept fucking up before and kept thinking of him as a freaky fish thing. It was the back eyes, they threw her off. He was okay she guessed. At least he wasn't Cerberus, former or otherwise. She didn't like some of his preachy shit though, almost as bad as the Justicar with how much he seemed to go on about souls and bodies and death and crap. She supposed it came with being an assassin that was going to die of a terminal illness eventually. Something that had to do with lungs and humidity, she never paid much attention. At least his religious bull wasn't like the asari's, who made it perfectly clear on several occasions that in other circumstances she'd probably have to kill Jack because some retarded code told her to.

Jack took solace at least in the fact that the first people she saw upon awakening weren't anyone that she found insufferable or annoying. They spotted her quickly and rushed up to her.

"Jack," Jacob spoke up first, sounding surprised "what are you doing out here?"

"Trying to fucking sleep some place quiet for once." She explained, holding her head as it throbbed from the klaxon ring that was still stuck in her ears "The fuck are you doing here?"

"You didn't get Shepard's message?" Jacob responded, looking a bit befuddled.

Jack groaned at the statement of the obvious from Boy Scout #2.

"No, I did not get Boy Scout's message." She grumbled "I was asleep, I just told you, duh!"

She could tell by Jacob's grimace he didn't appreciate the attitude, but he kept his mouth shut. It wasn't like she'd listen to him anyway if he tried to talk back. Thane, thankfully, managed to get things back on track.

"The Covenant beat us to the jump coordinates." He elaborated "Shepard fears they will attempt to board us and take the ship. We obviously can't allow that."

Jack just grinned maliciously at the news. Of all the reasons to be woken up unceremoniously, this was one she could accept.

"Good, I get to kill something." She declared, slamming her fist into her hand "Perfect way to start the morning or any time of day now that I think about it."

"You may wanna consider better armour then." Thane advised "Remember, the Covenant want us dead more than anyone. They'll be targetting us."

Jack stared at the drell, fairly annoyed. She had been wearing this damn black armour over her body for over a month now and he was asking her to put on more? This was good enough wasn't it?

"I got my barriers, I'll be fine." She insisted

"I think Thane's got a point Jack." Jacob interjected "Maybe wearing one of the Marines' armour vests would be helpful."

Jack merely rolled her eyes.

"And what about him?" Jack asked, pointing to Thane "He wears a damn jacket with his upper chest exposed."

"I need to be manoeuvrable and that hole is there for medical reasons." Thane countered.

"Oh stuff it with your excuses, drell." She told him angrily "Bottom line is I'm fine without it."

Thane looked back unhindered by the outburst and simply walked over to a nearby crate labelled "body armour." He pulled off the top and took out of a Marine uniform, complete with ceramic plating and ballistic gel absorbing layers underneath. All designed to keep plasma from melting your skin.

"I think it best you not let your pride get in the way of common sense." Thane told her.

He tossed the armour over Jack, who caught it with ease.

"I don't need you people playing babysitter." She declared, still with an angry look in her eyes.

"I'm not, I assure you." Thane told her "I'm giving you advice, not orders. The latter part is Shepard's job."

Jack kinda wanted to shove the armour back in the drell's face, just for the hell of it. She decided against it in the end though, didn't feel like wasting more energy on this shit when Covenant were coming. That and the argument was interrupted by the Autumn's version of EDI.

"Attention, all combat personnel: Please report to your action stations."

By now practically every jarhead and trooper in the place was scrambling to gather their weapons and strap on their helmets. As Jack watched one Marine slap in a fresh mag into his rifle, she realised something.

"Fuck, I left my gun on the Normandy." She growled

Jacob reached behind his back and tossed her his shotgun. An M-22 Eviscerator, the perfect weapon for tearing through Covenant hides like tissue paper.

"I'll grab one of the Marines' shotguns from the lockers, don't worry." Jacob assured her.

"Wasn't." She unceremoniously said as she walked past him.

She spotted Thane giving her a stern look as she did. Finally she sighed and when she was far enough away reluctantly began putting on the body armour, strapping it on tightly.

"Fucking fish eyed lizard." She muttered under her throat.

Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw the drell smiling, but her focus was interrupted by Cortana again.

"5th Platoon, secure airlocks on deck 11. 14th Platoon, rendezvous with 22nd Tactical at bulkhead Charlie 14."

At first Jack had grown weary of the constant military jargon, but overtime she actually began to understand it somewhat. She just didn't like it all that much was all. It all just seemed too formal and superficial to her. Not her style, she liked being direct and brutally honest.

A warthog passed by them as they were getting their gear together. It carried a full load of Marines through their little ready bay, probably heading out to secure the airlocks and decks and all that other shit. Once it left Jacob snapped to his feet suddenly. Jack had a good idea why. As she strapped the final part of the armour on over her torso a new voice filled the room.

"You heard the lady! Move like you got a purpose!"

The order came from a grizzled UNSC Marine Sergeant, Avery Johnson. Jacob had met him just before they fled Reach and for some reason the two had connected pretty damn fast. Hell he even got into line with the other Marines, falling in as Johnson spoke aloud to the men. Jack hoped to stay out of the whole lame military cliché show, no such luck.

"That goes for everyone in here! No one is special!" he barked

Jack growled again, bad enough she was woken up now she was getting bossed around by everyone NOT named Shepard. Damn it to hell. She fell in beside Thane, who like Jacob was standing up straight and tall. She didn't follow their example, she slouched instead. What was that ornery jerk of a Sergeant going to do to her anyway? Shepard may have said they were drafted into this damn Army, but as far she was concerned she wasn't anyone's flunky, let alone the UNSC's.

Other Marines snapped to attention as Cortana rang in again.

"This is not a drill. I repeat this is not a drill."

'No shit, lady.' Jack thought to herself.

The Marines had formed two perfect straight lines, Thane and Jacob included. Jack didn't get why Jacob was so damn hot to trot for these douches. Wasn't he a higher rank than Johnson anyway? Whatever, he wanted to be a good little minion let him. No loss on her part.

Sergeant Johnson now began to walk in-between the two lines of Marines. A parked warthog rested behind him as he moved up through the center with his head held high and his gun resting on his shoulder.

'Shit,' Jack thought, 'he's gonna make a damn speech.'

Jack had started hating speeches ever since Shepard had made a fucking habit out of them. They were corny, stupid, pointless, filled with lame ass bravado and sucked up valuable killing assholes time. Why give a pep talk? Just shoot and kill the fuckers already. That's how she worked and it had done her just fine for years.

"Men, here is where we show them split-chin squid-head sons-of-bitches that they could not have picked a worse enemy than the human race." Johnson began, his commanding voice booming throughout the room.

He momentarily looked to Thane, almost as if to say 'no offence' without interrupting his precious speech. The Sergeant almost stopped to correct Jack's posture, but he kept going anyway. He was probably too into the moment to care right now. Fine by her, she wouldn't have listened anyway.

"We led them dumb bugs out here to keep their filthy claws off Earth." Johnson continued "But we stumbled onto somethin' they're so hot for that they're scramblin' over each other to get it. So once again it is our job to finish what the flyboys started. Make no mistake, we will be leaving this ship, Platoon, and engaging the enemy on solid ground. I don't care if this thing is God's very own anti-son-of-a-bitch-machine or a giant hula hoop, we're not gonna let them have it! What we will let them have is a belly full of lead and a pool of their own blood to drown in! When we meet the enemy we will rip their skulls from their spines and toss them away laughin'!"

Well, at least his speeches were more to Jack's style than Shepard's. They involved decapitation for one. It gave her a bit of a grin, even as Johnson violently turned around and screamed some more.

"Am I right Marines?" he demanded to know.

"Sir, yes sir!" everyone shouted back.

Jack was somewhat surprised to hear those same words come out of her mouth, albeit a bit more silent than most. Damn, the group mentality was already affecting her.

"Uh-huh, damn right I am." Johnson responded to their answer "Now move it out! Double time!"

The lines of Marines split up and Jack followed them out the doorway in a rush.

"Finally! Dumbass killing time!" she declared, switching her shotgun to warp ammo as she ran forward.

The Marines were mostly silent as they made their way out along the hanger deck to their designated combat positions. Jack stuck close to Jacob and Thane as they were the only people in this gaggle of military fuckwits that she even knew. Better to stick with the familiar than a bunch of assholes she wasn't sure she could rely on. Even if they weren't her friends, she at least knew Jacob and Thane would have her back. They were too big on the heroics and teamwork shit to do so otherwise.

As they moved further away from Johnson, Cortana's warning of imminent contact with the enemy echoing through the halls, they heard him give on last little quip. This time, it was a semi-warning cloaked in a little satirical humour.

"All you greenhorns who wanted to see Covenant up-close, this is gonna be your lucky day."


	3. Reveille

Chapter 2: Reveille

**September, 19****th****, 2552**

The first question they always ask never changes. 'Do you dream in cryo-sleep?' Every rookie had heard the rumours, but few really believed until they had it happen to them. Some passed it off as a way for folks to ease you into the process. Cryo-pods were fraught with medical risks, allergic reactions and freezer burn among a few. Saying they would still dream on ice was supposedly just a way to keep you from worrying about that.

John-117, the Master Chief, knew different. They weren't rumours, you did dream in cryo-sleep. The truth was they weren't your regular dreams. The science behind it wasn't exact, but as near as he could tell they were mix between dream and memory. They intermixed into a strange collage, where you could recall the events had really happened but they were off somehow. Sometimes you flashed forward through strands of time, almost to the point of losing a sense of what the chronological sequence of the real events were. Other times the dreams were so bizarre you couldn't tell what was from memory and what was from your mind. Perhaps it was the subconscious working overtime, trying to tell you something. John didn't focus much on the psychological bend of them, however. He just tried to enjoy them while they lasted.

This one was familiar and pleasant. Eriandus II, his birthplace, a green field and a figure that seemed warm, inviting and loving. There were no words in this dream even though he tried to speak them. There were meant to be warm, nice words, like those spoken to a parent from their child, but they never manifested. The figure changed, turning to the more distinctive shape of Doctor Catherine Halsey. She was the person who had made him who he was today. A soldier, a leader, a symbol, at least that's what they told him he was now. Halsey had accomplished this by taking him away from his family and then giving him a new one. His fellow Spartans were his family now, what was left of them.

Then the image faded once more and turned to a newer face, Cortana or at least what looked like was her. They had known each other for awhile, but they had worked well together. He still wasn't entirely sure about her being plugged into his head of course. Despite the tenuous connection the dream implied, however, Cortana wasn't anything like the good Doctor. She was more brazen than her and never afraid to speak honestly. Almost as if she exhumed self-confidence. At least he would have a partner that was sure of herself.

Then dream took a sudden shift. Before he knew it, John was surrounded by the familiar armoured visages of his fellow Spartans. They all stood attention in front of the Cortana-like figure. Before long there was something else directly behind her. It towered over them all, ringing a blarring klaxon that shook the very dream. His Spartans rushed forth, guns at the ready... and then they were gone. In a flash of red light spewed forth from the mouth of the shadow they disappeared, turned to ash. His eyes widened in horror. It was a nightmare he knew was all too true. Whatever this thing was, however, was unclear but he didn't care. It was a threat and it needed to die. The klaxon rung again as he reached for his weapon, but suddenly something grabbed him from behind, latching onto his arm. He looked, another shadow, but different somehow. It was separate from the other entity.

Another tendril lashed and grabbed him around the waist as he struggled. Holding him in place a third tentacle lashed out heading for the Cortana figure. He reached out trying to grab it in vain. The tendril was stopped by the red light of the first shadow and suddenly the two entities were in a brawl of their own, with him in the middle. He tried to escape their grasp, reach the Cortana figure, hoping to find serenity and safety with her as the monsters clashed around him, growling, snarling and blaring. He felt weaker than normal as he wiggled away from the second shadow. He felt smaller, tinier, as he crawled towards the Cortana figure. Then, just as he made it over to her and reached for her hand, a bright light engulfed him.

* * *

Master Chief's eyes flickered awake as the casket doors rose up. Compressed cold air poured out from the open cavity of the pod and the waking world slowly came into view. He was back in the _Autumn_'s cryo-bay once more. The mumbling voices of the technicians became clear as the dreary haze of the cold sleep fell away. The male voice of the head techie soon became clear as the fog faded.

"Sorry for the quick thaw Master Chief, but things are a bit hectic right now. The disorientation should pass quickly."

By the time he finished that sentence it practically was. He'd been in cryo-pods so much by now that it just felt natural by this point. The stiffness in his neck let up enough for him to peer up at the secondary techie up in the control room overlooking the room.

"Welcome back sir." The young techie said cheerfully, waving at him through the glass "We'll have you combat ready stat."

It didn't take long to register the situation at hand. The quick thaw, them getting him combat ready immediately, it was obvious enough that they had Covenant either incoming or here already. Since the techies were still relatively calm despite everything he could only guess they still had a little time. Still, the sooner he got out and ready, the better.

The techies seemed to agree, before long his HUD's health monitors were online. Chief was adjusting himself a bit by moving his neck back and forth, trying to work a bit of a cramp he had. In the middle of it the techie in charge said something about "freezer burn" and finally asked him to step out of the tube. Slowly Chief pushed himself up and climbed out of the pod, his feet hit the metal grating floor with a clang.

"Lucky you, got to sleep in an extra minute."

Chief's turned to the voice and with nothing to block his vision now he spotted someone lurking just beside his cryo-pod. Clad in similar green MJONIR armour, wearing an early prototype scout helmet, was Linda. Chief was pleasantly surprised to see her walking about, as the last time he laid eyes on her she was in a bad way from a sucker slash an Elite gave her. He couldn't show it with his helmet on, but he could in his own way. He lifted a finger to his helmet's mouth and Linda did the same, the personal Spartan code for a smile.

"You look better." He observed.

"Our new friends on the Normandy got a good doctor and that medi-gel of theirs does miracles." She replied "Never thought a ship full of aliens would be saving me to be honest."

"It is surprising," he agreed "but let's hope they don't have to stick you on the slab again for a good while. What's the situation?"

The lead techie coughed slightly and motioned his head over to the optical diagnostic station on the right. He had a job to do too, best not to keep him waiting. Linda just nodded and began walking to the test area, the Master Chief in tow.

"Boarders I think." She answered as they walked "That's what your new friend keeps yapping about over the intercom. Come on, let's finish this up and get to the bridge."

It felt good to move around. Chief was already feeling the stiffness of the cryo-pod's side effects wearing off. He could still feel a bit of a sting of cold, but it didn't take much to ignore it. One of the first things he had learned in training was to work through the pain, he had to. Spartans couldn't look weak at any time.

The two Spartans quickly had their targeting sensors calibrated, looking up and across at four lights. A simple test, but they were short on time so they needed to speed through it. With that done they made their way over to activate their shields, they wouldn't get very far without them otherwise. As they did, Cortana spoke over the intercom.

"Fire teams: Report to defensive positions Alpha through Sierra. Sensors show inbound Covenant boarding craft. Stand by to repel boarders."

To many that would be a bad announcement, but Chief was just ready to get going. He had slept enough. He needed to get back to job, ASAP. That meant getting his shields online first though.

Linda stared up at the ceiling as she got in the energy shield test station. The large forked object soon began to spin around, an orange energy flowing across her body.

"Never got to ask how you feel about getting a voice in your head." She told Chief as she stood there.

"I've already had Cortana in my head before, she's useful." Chief explained "With her in the suit I boost its capabilities tenfold. Having someone chatting in my ear all the while is a small price to pay for that."

"Yeah I heard," Linda acknowledged as she initiated the shield recharge test "deflected a missile for ya. Still glad Halsey picked you for it and not me."

Chief scratched the side of his head awkwardly, something he rarely did.

"Actually," he began "she didn't pick me for it."

Linda looked over at him bewildered.

"Well then who picked you for the implantation?" she asked confused "ONI command? Lord Hood himself?"

"Halsey didn't say," Chief admitted "said I'd find out in time."

Linda got out of the test square and let Chief take his turn. As his shields charged she continued the conversation.

"Well, I guess we'll need every resource we have left for this fight." She said solemnly "After... you know."

"They're just missing in action for now." He was quick to tell her.

Linda shook her head. They both knew that was propaganda. MIA for a Spartan just meant they were never coming back period. You had to fool yourself into believing the opposite. What choice did they have though? It was easier to pretend they were still out there then to admit the truth. Chief had already updated the chart in his suit's onboard computer just before he entered cryo, he had a lot of MIAs to that list before he went under. At least Linda wasn't one of them, but that still left Fred and Kelly.

"It's not all bad ya know." Linda tried to reassure him "After they fixed me up and I went into freeze, I heard we have Spartan IIIs aboard. And then there's Commander Shepard's crew of course."

Chief didn't answer right away. He activated his recharge test program, the shields spiked loudly and dissipated in a burst of energy. An annoying little alarm rung in his ears as the warning lights flashed.

"It isn't the same Linda." He told her glumly "They're different."

"Yeah, they are." Linda admitted, before adding "Doesn't mean we shouldn't work with them though. They're just as capable as we are. With how things are now we shouldn't turn a blind eye to back-up. And if I'm admitting that we're going to need assistance, that's saying something."

True, if Linda of all of people was telling him it wouldn't hurt to reach out a bit more than usual perhaps there he should take the suggestion into consideration. But Chief wasn't able to give an answer to her, as the techie in the observation room interrupted their conversation.

"Recharge is normal for you sirs," he said giving the thumbs-up "showing green across the board."

With the Covenant closing Chief realised he'd need a weapon and fast. Sadly the cryo-bay seemed devoid of them. He doubted Linda had any either if she had also just woken up. With any luck there was an armoury nearby though and if worst came to worst he'd grab a weapon off a Covenant. It wasn't too great a concern at the moment anyway.

His thoughts were interrupted by a message from the Captain himself.

"Bridge to Cryo Two this is Captain Keyes. Send the Master Chief and Spartan-058 up here immediately."

If Keyes was already summoning them before they finished things must've gotten bad real quick. He looked to Linda, trying to gauge her reaction and see if she agreed. Few could read Spartans, he could, he had to. She wasn't nervous, but he could tell she shared his concerns. The Covenant had to be moving faster than expected, how fast they couldn't say.

"Captain we'll have to skip the weapons test and-"

The techie didn't get to finish.

"On the double, Crewman." Keyes insisted.

With an obedient "aye, aye" the Techie relinquished and turned to the Chief and Linda.

"We'll find you weapons later." He said

Not two seconds after he said that though Chief heard and explosion from above. He instantly turned his head towards the observation room. Inside the techie overlooking them was panicking as he heard the rapping of talons on the metal door.

"Oh god! They're trying to get through the door!" he screamed

There was nothing they could do. The observation room's door exploded inwards, knocking the techie back. He scrambled to the control console and tried to call security. Then Chief watched as three full on plasma blasts struck him square in the torso. A tortured scream came over the intercom and the poor techie fell to the floor as an Elite stomped into view. Poor guy, unarmed, he had no chance. It was typical of the Covenant, no prisoners, no mercy, no matter who you were.

It barely fazed him or Linda, even as the Elite tried to fire on them. The plasma just bounced off against the reinforced glass. The alien roared in frustration as the head techie called out for his friend, but they all knew he was gone. A fellow soldier was dead, always tragic and Chief wanted to kill the Elite for it, but he knew that without a weapon and with the Covie out of his reach it was pointless to dwell on that. They had to get to the bridge.

"Come on, we have to get the hell out of here!" he told the Spartans.

He rushed over and opened the door of the room, ushering them out. Both he and Linda followed quickly, but the techie was already running ahead.

"Wait!" Chief called "Slow down!"

By the time they were out in the hall the techie was on the other end down from them, frantically pressing at the pad of a locked door. It opened slightly and then an explosion rocked the hallway. A fireball blasted out from the doorway engulfing the crewmember as the shockwave sent him flying into a wall.

"Damn it." Linda swore "It's always the guy who runs ahead."

Their main route blocked by the now on fire doorway, Chief looked for a detour. He spied a pipe adjacent to them running along the ground. It was guarded mostly by gratings and beams but there was a large enough opening for them to jump over it. He pointed it out to Linda and the two quickly jumped over the pipe to the other hallway. The door here was still operable. They made their way through it without delay as Cortana shouted over the intercom about boarding parties swarming the ship.

As they ran down the hallway the wall exploded to their right, taking a terminal with it. Narrowly avoiding the blast they made their way out of hallway and into the wider corridor beyond. There they watched as helpless unarmed crewmen ran for their lives, plasma bolts zipping over their heads. The blast doors behind them were sealing up fast, but not fast enough for some.

One Crewman took a plasma bolt to the back of his head and collapsed dead at Chief's feet. Elites soon charged up the hallway, firing from the corner as the blast doors shut them off. No sense in going that way, so he and Linda continued up the hall. Another series of blast doors closed in front of them, but two crewmembers were still on the other side.

"Wait! Wait!" one called out

But there was no time to wait and no time left for him. A plasma grenade landed at the foot of the blast door.

"Back!" Chief shouted at Linda pushing her slightly away.

The device detonated and the explosion sent the two crewmen hurtling inside the blast doors just as they closed. A steam vent spewed out a cloud of liquid nitrogen and flung itself around wildly as the substance escaped the confines of its tube. Two more Elites fired madly at the blast doors, but the shots just bounced off them.

Chief eyed a darkened passageway to their left with a blue arrow on the floor pointing to it that said 'bridge.' They had a direction now. He and Linda ran into the dark, guided only by the fire and flashing red warning lights to their destination. They could hear shooting and screaming up ahead. A good indication they were going the right way. The darkened hall ended with another door that opened and revealed another Elite, this time staring them both square in the face.

Even with two Spartans the Elite just bellowed at them in defiance. Good enough for the Chief, this was his chance to get a weapon. He punched the alien square in the jaw, forcing him to stumble back in the wall. Linda moved to back him up as the Elite tried to get his mandible back in place. He didn't get another crack at the Spartans though, as a series of bullets struck him. His shields spiking the Elite retreated down another passage way through a door.

Two Marines rushed out from the left, their guns still drawn. While Chief was disappointed in losing a potential weapon, he was impressed that they had driven off the alien and seemed to still be intent on hunting it down. You could always count on Marines to be so brazen and spirited.

"Keep going! Keep going!" one of them shouted at him. Perhaps in the cloud of his battle lust he didn't realise he was ordering a Spartan around.

Still, no time to correct him on rank, he and Linda had to get to the bridge. They moved down the corridor where the two Marines had come from and after passing around a corner soon found a squad of the eponymous Devil Dogs holding a makeshift barricade. They fired upon the advancing Elites and grunts as they tried to storm and take the position. They were holding their own, but the enemy was numerous. If only he and Linda had their own guns they could help, but as one of the defenders reminded him they had another place to be.

"Chief, Captain needs you on the bridge ASAP!" he shouted over to him from the door to the armoury. "You better follow me!"

He and Linda obliged and followed the Marine through the armoury, now stripped bare and housing a number of gravely wounded Marines. Blood pooled around them as they groaned and hunched over themselves. Their guns had already been taken by their still able comrades. Chief was beginning to hope that Keyes at least had a gun by this point.

As they exited the armoury they found themselves in yet another battle. Marines were falling back behind a closing blast door. Elites were not too far behind with their grunt followers. They weren't facing off against unarmed deckhands now though. They were dealing with proper soldiers and as expected they met with predictable results in the end.

The grunts fell just inches before the blast door. Chief wanted to rush over and grab one of the pistols but it was already too late. The doors slammed, closing the Covies off from another path to the bridge.

"If they're already this far into the _Autumn_ then we won't hold it for much longer." Linda warned "I hope the Captain has an escape plan."

"Problem is, where are we going to escape to?" he asked her.

After following the Marine a few more feet down the winding halls of the _Autumn_ they were finally on the bridge where Keyes was no doubt waiting. As they entered the bridge they found it swarming with activity, deckhands at every terminal typing furiously and desperately trying to keep up with the status of the ship. Others were rushing between stations trying to respond to everything as it came. No easy task, but when did any day offer something easy? One deckhand slammed his fist against his screen in anger as a red light kept flashing in his face.

"Worthless piece of junk!" he shouted "Terminate signal damn it! I don't have time for this!"

"What's going on over there Crewman?" asked someone from around the corner at the front of the bridge

"Random signal keeps hailing us, Colonel Holland." The Crewman explained "All I get is a bunch of gibberish and I can't determine the origin. I'm trying to cut it, but it keeps coming back!"

"Just isolate it from the system. We can't deal with it right now." Holland's voice ordered.

Chief and Linda just kept walking and let the Crewman do his job. Keyes had his own mission for them and there was no sense in keeping him waiting, not with the Covenant practically knocking on the blast doors leading to the bridge.

There standing in front of the command console and its screen was the good Captain himself, clad in his military dress uniform and standing with his back to them. Beside him was a person Chief could only assume was Colonel Holland. He was wearing combat armour, which he had only just put on as he was still attaching his helmet's strap.

The only other person Chief recognized was there as well, wearing a different kind of armour than the one Colonel Holland was wearing. It was black with a big old red stripe across its arm and had low level blue lights adorned on the back. He too wasn't facing the Chief, more involved in looking over his weapon. Commander Shepard, the man he had helped get off Reach and CO of the Normandy. It was interesting to see him on the bridge here and not the one of his own ship.

Chief also looked out the window briefly and saw the amazing sight that had become lost in the background of the fighting. A ringed structure floating in space, with what looked to be landmasses, an atmosphere and water adorning the surface, not exactly the kind of sight you expected to see every day.

"Captain Keyes." He said finally announcing his and Linda's presence to all there.

Instantly everyone turned to him. Shepard lowered his gun back into its holster while Holland looked over as he snapped the helmet strap into place. Keyes quickly grasped Chiefs hand and gave it a firm shake.

"Good to see you Master Chief, you too 058, things aren't going well." He stated

"Yes we saw." Linda responded

Keyes looked to the other officers on deck.

"I believe you both have already met Commander Shepard and know of my Army counterpart Colonel Holland." He said raising his hand to them "They're assisting in the coordination of efforts from the bridge."

"Not for much longer though," the Colonel stated "only so much I can do up here to the point I get in the way. I'm heading down to help my troopers, Shepard was about to do the same with his people."

Shepard himself walked over to shake hands with Chief.

"Good to see you again Master Chief," he said as he took the Spartan's hand "shame it's once again under less than pleasant circumstances."

"Same." Chief agreed, quickly getting the conversation back on track. "I'm guessing containment isn't work if you're both headed to barricades yourselves."

Keyes only nodded.

"They're on every deck and ships are closing in for point blank shots." Keyes explained "Cortana did her best, but we didn't stand a chance."

Cortana holographic form appeared at that statement, staring out into the void of space. Her back was turned to the group, but Chief just knew somehow that she was arching a holographic eyebrow at the remark from the Captain.

"A dozen Covenant superior battleships against a single Halcyon-class cruiser." She proclaimed in a proud and snarky tone. "Given those odds I'm content with three..." she paused for a moment, new information flooding into her "...make that four kills."

Just as Chief remembered her, cocky as hell and proud beyond belief, although given the facts he found little reason to berate her. It was rather impressive she had killed that many given the odds. Cortana soon turned around, showing her smiling ever confident face to all present.

"Sleep well?" she asked him

"No thanks to your driving, yes." Chief replied, trying to get one up on her just a little.

The jab only seemed to embolden the AI though, her smile broadening at his words.

"So you did miss me." She said, her snark even more pronounced than before.

The brief reunion was interrupted by a powerful explosion the shook the whole of the ship. It threatened to topple over everyone still standing on the deck. Linda propped herself up against the back terminal to keep her erect.

"I think the kid gloves just came off." She said as she righted herself.

Keyes quickly turned to Cortana.

"Report!" He demanded

"It must've been one of their boarding parties!" she reasoned, finally appearing concerned "My guess is an anti-matter charge."

The helmsman below the command console deck soon chimed in.

"Ma'am! Fire control to the main cannon is offline!"

"Captain the cannon was my last defensive option." Cortana informed Keyes.

Keyes shook his head exasperated, he was out of ideas that much Chief could clearly see. It wasn't hard to guess his next course of action.

"Alright then, I'm initiating Cole Protocol Article 2. We're abandoning the _Autumn_."

A grim statement, but there were nothing else they could do now. They were just a floating hunk of metal without a gun. Holland was the first to jump to his feet.

"If we're leaving this tub then I gotta leave it with my boys." He stated "I'm heading down to round up everyone I can and get them off. Evacuation will need a coordinator in the trenches anyway."

"Do it," Keyes confirmed "just make sure you get off too. Grab a Pelican, jump in a pod, hitch a ride with the Normandy or the ODSTs, we'll need every officer we can get on the ground."

"As if you need to order me to get me to do that," Holland laughed "I'm Army, we don't stay on sinking ships."

He readied his pistol one hand and saluted to the two Spartans and Shepard.

"See you groundside Master Chief, 058, you too Commander." He said "We're gonna drench that ring in Covie blood together, you'll see."

Holland left quickly before anyone else could wish him luck. Not that he needed it. He seemed to know what he was doing. At least everyone hoped he did.

"I can have the Normandy on stand-by to carry as many Marines down to the ring as they possibly can." Shepard told Keyes, making his own contribution to the evacuation plan. "They may need some help holding the ship's position though."

"We can handle that." Chief assured, pointing to him and Linda

But Keyes quickly waved off the idea.

"No I have something else in mind for you, Master Chief. I can't have you running the evacuation and it at the same time." He explained

Chief would've asked for more of an explanation, but he didn't get the chance. Linda raised her hand up.

"Well if you just need him for this I can assist the Normandy in the evac." She suggested "I owe their medics my life after all."

Keyes gave it some thought and looked to Shepard who nodded in acceptance.

"Alright 058, you have the go ahead." He agreed "Head down to the hangar bay and meet with the Normandy's XO. I'll make sure she knows of your arrival."

"I'll need a gun first." She added

Shepard reached into his holster and pulled out his pistol. The gun spanned out from its compacted form and the Commander tossed it over to the female Spartan who caught it with ease. Next he passed over a small ammo pack to her, which she also caught.

"Carnifex, delivers a major punch." He informed her "The pack has extra thermal clips. Slap one in when the first goes dry. I set it to inferno rounds. Should ignite any bad guys you come across."

Linda looked it over for a moment. Chief could imagine she was disappointed. She preferred sniper rifles after all. She eventually put the pistol into a holster, letting it close up once more, and turned to him. Chief didn't like the idea of her going off on her own, not after what happened to the others, but it wasn't his place to question. If the Captain had a more important mission for him, then he had to stay.

"Make sure you're on that frigate when it takes off." He said, practically ordering her.

"I will be, don't worry." She promised "I'm used to going it alone, rifle or no rifle. Besides, remember the first day of lessons? Spartans are made for holding lines."

"Just don't end up like the ones in the story." He said, reminding her of the outcome of the tale. "We'll talk nostalgia later, for now get moving."

Linda saluted once and took off into the ship. As she did Keyes turned back to Cortana.

"Evac order goes for you too, Cortana." He said.

"While you do what go down with the ship?" she asked, her tone slightly mocking the cliché.

Keyes put the pipe in his mouth for a moment as he turned to command screen.

"In a manner of speaking." He replied, taking the pipe out again and pointing towards the ring world. "The object we found, I'm going to try and land the _Autumn_ on it. Anyone who can't get off and survives the crash landing can link up with the other survivors in good time with any luck."

Shepard perched his eyebrow at the idea.

"A crash landing in this tub doesn't sound like the best of options." He said. "Why not leave the ship for the Covenant? They don't use human technology anyway, it's not like they're going to turn it against us."

"I don't want to take the risk." Keyes explained "Besides, the ship's comm-relays need to be intact if we're going to send a distress beacon. That's our only way home."

But for Cortana the risk still seemed too great. Chief felt the same, she could easily pilot the ship in, there was no need to go manual to commit to a crash landing.

"With all due respect, sir, this war has enough dead heroes." She argued

"I appreciate your concern Cortana, but it's not up to me." He said steadfastly resigned to his decision. "Protocol is clear on this. Destruction or capture of a shipboard is absolutely unacceptable, that means you're leaving the ship. Lock in a selection of emergency landing codes, upload them to my neural lace and then sort yourself for hard transfer."

Cortana seemed to sigh at her failure to persuade the Captain as she responded.

"Aye, aye sir." She said despondently.

Cortana vanished from sight back into her console to do her work while Keyes turned to Shepard and Chief as they stood side by side now.

"This is where you come in, Chief." He began, as stoic and firm as ever. "Get Cortana off this ship. Keep her safe form the enemy. If they capture her they'll learn everything. Force deployments, weapons research... Earth."

Keyes delivered that last word with a more foreboding tone then Chief had ever heard before. There was doubt in his mind now how serious this situation was and how important this task was.

"I understand." Chief responded simply.

"Good," Keyes nodded "Commander Shepard will accompany you. I know Spartans can take care of themselves, but I won't take a chance on this. The Commander's unique skill set will come in handy, I assure you."

Chief looked at Shepard once, earning a respectful look in kind.

"Shouldn't he be with his men?" he asked

"I'm going to instruct them to return to the Normandy or look for the nearest escape pod." Shepard informed him "Other than that there's really nothing more I can do for them. Besides, from what I hear from them it's bad out there, you might need some back up."

Chief relented and nodded his approval.

"Very well Shepard," he said in the same almost monotone voice as always "glad to have you then."

Shepard looked at him, seemingly wondering if the Chief was glad to have him along. Truth be told, Chief was grateful for back-up, but he barely knew the good Commander and his thoughts were mainly about the safety of Linda. He knew this was where he was needed, but he didn't like the idea of doing this while a fellow Spartan was otherwise engaged elsewhere. In the end he just hoped the Commander was all Keyes said he was.

Cortana soon appeared on the console once more with her arms crossed. Her work was done and she was more or less prepared for departure.

"The _Autumn_ will continue evasive maneuveurs until you initiate a landing sequence." She explained, she continued in a less subdue manner. "Not that you'll listen, but I'd suggest letting my subroutines handle the final approach."

Keyes didn't respond to Cortana's advice and just nodded his approval at the completion of her work.

"Excellent, Cortana." He thanked "Are you ready?"

Cortana looked about the bridge one last time. One could only guess what her thoughts ultimately were about. Was she concerned about leaving her ship, her home? Was she concerned about Keyes' actions? Was she wary about being plugged into a Spartan? Well, Chief knew that last one wasn't an issue, but he still wondered what was on the AI's mind. At last she sighed and accepted that it was time to go.

"Yank me." She told Keyes.

Keyes pulled Cortana's AI unit from the console and her image shivered before vanishing entirely from the pedestal. The slender device Keyes held in his fingers was now where she resided, her essence represented by the glowing circle of light that pulsated in the center of the device.

"Good luck, Master Chief." Keyes said as he handed to the Spartan.

Chief took the AI unit in hand and gently slid into the slot at the back of his helmet. Within moments a flash of data and information entered his brain. It tingled a bit. The distinctive feel of Cortana joining with his suit and connecting with him, a feeling he had only had once before on Reach.

It was hard to describe, your head being filled with another sentient entity. It went from feeling like ice water being poured into your skull, to a slight pain before it became numb and inviting. It was a mixture of weird and overwhelming while at the same time feeling familiar and right. He wasn't sure why.

He supposed it was partly because of what the neural network meant. The two now fully relied on each other, depended on one another. The joining made them one, made them whole. It was like being on a team again, but more insular. Another reason he didn't object too much to Shepard coming along, in some ways he preferred the company.

"Hmm, your architecture isn't much different from the _Autumn_'s." Cortana piped up as the interfacing completed.

Chief, only slightly annoyed, stopped that train of thought before it went any further.

"Don't get any funny ideas." He told her firmly.

"I wouldn't dream of it. Just making an observation." said Cortana, somewhat apologetically.

With the interface complete Chief turned to Shepard.

"You got another one of those Carnifexs?" he asked

"I don't really bring many guns with me." The Commander admitted "Kinda slows me down."

Turning to Keyes, the Captain immediately read the Spartan's mind. He produced a UNSC magnum pistol, complete with scope sight and all save for one detail.

"I don't keep it loaded son," he admitted "you'll have to find ammo as you go."

As grim as it was Chief admitted that probably wouldn't be a problem considering how bad things were going. He turned back Shepard.

"You've been awake longer, you lead the way." He told him

"I prefer point anyway." He complied "Come on, let's get off this tub."

They left Keyes on the bridge and exited through a secondary door on the left side of the room. They were soon at a doorway that led to a large hallway, and just beyond they could hear snivelling scampering across the metal floor.

"That sound is always the giveaway." Chief stated.

"They're not much for stealth." Shepard added "I've come to accept that."

Chief looked down and pistol ammo cartridge lying before him in the doorway. He quickly grabbed it and slapped the magazine into the gun.

"Sounds like three of them, maybe four." Chief reasoned.

"Easy enough," Shepard reasoned "let's do it."

Chief jumped out into the doorway first, hid pistol at the ready. Shepard was right behind him. The grunts in the hall were taken completely by surprise. They fired wild shots at the humans, but it was futile. Chief easily capped two grunts in the head, taking them out before they knew what hit them. Shepard handled the third one with a powerful swing of his arm, releasing a torrent of blue energy that rippled across the ground. The little gas sucker was sent hurtling into the ship's bulkhead, smashing his skull open and breaking his neck.

Chief looked a little puzzled at the display, but Cortana helpfully filled him in, remembering how long he'd been asleep.

"Yeah in addition to aliens his ship has people with crazy mass manipulating powers." The AI explained "Don't call them psychics, they hate that."

Chief didn't have time to ask more questions. He already had his answer as to what Keyes had meant when he spoke of the Commander's 'unique' skill set. That and he could hear more fighting in the next room. Shepard snatched a plasma pistol of one of the dead grunts and made his way over to the entrance of a mess hall across from them. Chief soon joined him, just in time to see an elite with a squad of grunts rampaging through the mess hall, Marines shooting back in a panic as their lines faltered.

"Those Marines could use some help Chief." Cortana stated aloud "Do what you do best."

He would've said 'with pleasure', but it just seemed a bit cliché. Actions spoke louder than one-liners any day. He charged in, scooping up an assault rifle a Marine had dropped. Shepard joined in on his assault, firing a fully charged plasma bolt at the elite. The shot struck the alien officer square in the chest, his shields burnt out instantly.

The elite backed up from the fight, moving to cover behind the doorway he had entered from. The Marines that were in the Elite's line of fire now had a bit of a breather as the grunts tried to follow their squad leader. They retreated to cover behind the tables of the mess hall and the metal barricade in along the wall.

As Chief approached he heard panicked shrieks, plasma bolts struck the ground outside the door and the little grunts ran back into the mess hall. Chief opened up with the assault rifle, easily cutting them down. Riddled with bullets their bodies fell one after the other, littering the mess hall entrance.

Their distracting presence gave their leader a chance to slip back in. He rushed through the door, firing his rifle at Chief`s position, peppering it with plasma bolts. The Spartan ducked low as the Elite slid across a table, smacking one of the Marines hiding behind it with his foot. Bleeding from the nose the young soldier hit the floor of the mess and dropped his gun. The Elite stood over him prepared to deliver a final blow when something struck him in the side causing him to fly back over the very table he had leapt over. Shepard, his hand still outstretched from his biotic throw attack, fired several plasma blasts at the alien, intending to keep him pinned behind cover.

"Chief, now!" Shepard called out.

The Spartan had already read the Commander's mind. He pulled out of cover and fired his assault rifle on the Elite at full blast. The Covenant officer, flanked both ends, tried to pull away but one the plasma shots hit him and killed his shields for the second time.

Angered, he stood up and tried to rush Master Chief, who had closed the distance with him. Several high velocity rounds slammed into the alien's body and the Elite fell back in a heap, oozing purple blood from his wounds.

Chief looked to the downed Marine and helped him to his feet. He gave the Spartan a thumbs-up, assuring him that he was okay. Chief then looked to Shepard. His pistol was now lowered, but still at the ready.

"Nice save." He congratulated.

"Good flanking." Shepard responded in kind.

Cortana, however, did not seem to share their mutual congratulations.

"Boys, I'm picking up movement on the suit's motion tracker just outside the room." She warned them "We're not done yet."

As if on cue plasma bolts flew over their heads, announcing the arrival of a second group of Covenant. Two Elites with their grunt companions stormed the mess from the back and raced between the cover of the tables to and fro as they fired. Shepard and the Master Chief quickly took cover behind their own respective tables.

"I'll get closer, you keep them occupied." said Shepard as he hefted out what appeared to be a shotgun as far as the Chief could tell.

"We'll see if I leave any left for you when you get there." Responded the Master Chief daringly.

The Spartan popped up with pistol in hand and, aiming through the scope, zeroed in on the scampering squads of grunts and elites. He fired several consecutive shots in the path of one of the Elites while keeping the crosshairs on his head. The shields spiked wildly and died before another shot sliced through the Covenant officer's eye and finally downed him. He skidded across the floor and fell at the feet of one of the grunts. Chief's translator, built into the suit, picked up the gas sucker's cries in perfect English.

"They got the Sangheili! Run!"

The now dead Elite's grunts ran screaming out the way they came. The second Elite growled in anger at their cowardice and zeroed on Chief's position. Chief rolled to the side and away from the plasma bolts before popping back up and loading a fresh magazine into his pistol. He fired one the grunts protecting their leader as he advanced forward. He got two head shots each for the frontline grunts, their bodies slumped against the back table.

Amazingly the final grunt in the room still stood by his leader. He was his only protection now any way. The Elite did not seem to appreciate the reverence, for when the grunt moved closer to him the Covenant officer pushed him away and out of cover. Screaming bloody murder, the gas sucker jumped to his feet and fired on the Master Chief, running backwards into cover. He walked right into the barrel of Shepard's shotgun. The Commander had successfully flanked the enemy and an inferno round saw to the little methane breathing midget's demise. It ran into a wall as it back became enflamed, the pack exploded moments after, leaving the final Elite alone.

The grunt's untimely demise had distracted the hardened xeno-warrior and he turned to face the flanking attack only to have the Master Chief's boot strike him right in the face. Chief fired a full burst from his assault rifle into the down Elite before dropping on him hard. He smashed his fist into the alien's head, once to make a crack, twice to break the skull. Chief stood back up when the deed was done and looked to Shepard who had also come out of cover.

"Well you got one." Chief admitted "Guess I'm getting a little slow."

"You're probably just still stiff from the freeze." Shepard told him.

Cortana's audible sigh could be heard through the radio.

"If you could see me now my eyes would be rolling." She groaned.

Suddenly the grunts that had just run out came running back in with fire on their heels. It didn't sound like plasma fire though, it sounded like a heavy fully automatic assault rifle of some kind. Chief couldn't recognize the sound. Shepard seemed to though.

"That's a revenant," Shepard reasoned "but only my people have that and none of them are on this deck! I checked."

The Commander already had his gun raised to the door across from them. Chief began opening fire on the grunts as they rushed inside in the meantime. No sense in leaving loose threads. The little aliens were blasted against the walls as the impact sent them flying into the bulkhead. Moments later though a new threat emerged, but it didn't look like a Covie, not to the Master Chief at least.

It was bipedal, erect, was wearing some kind of black armour with crimson stripes and hefting a really big machine gun-like weapon. It almost appeared human, until you looked at the face and saw it had four eyes, bumpy brownish skin and sharp teeth. It shouted something incoherent to his translators and opened fire on both him and the Commander.

Shepard quickly pulled out a submachine gun of some kind and used it to pepper the shields of the alien with inferno rounds. The heavy machine gun still let loose a torrent of fire as Chief sought cover. He switched to his pistol and popped back out to fire a single round. It cut deep into his shoulder, throwing his firing arm off balance. The momentary pause gave Shepard enough time to let loose another volley of inferno rounds from his SMG, igniting the four-eyed xeno on fire momentarily before he collapsed dead.

Chief got up and ran over to the body to give it a look, Shepard joined him.

"Scanning." Cortana spoke, a few moments passed before she spoke up "This species isn't in any of my data files on the Covenant."

"You won't find them there." Shepard told the AI "Connect to codex entries, search Batarian."

After a few seconds Cortana piped up again.

"Ah, he's from your neck of the woods." She said, pleased to have a name to put to the alien's face "Yes, Batarians, according to your codex they're a race of four-eyed aliens with a caste-system government that runs on slavery. They also hate humans for reasons of national pride and their government has sponsored terrorist organizations that have been attacking human colonies ever since. They certainly have a lot in common with the Covenant."

"Even the Batarians don't openly engage in full blown genocide." Shepard corrected the AI "That doesn't matter though, not now. This one didn't think to wear a helmet, it gave him away. Otherwise he would've appeared almost human. His friends may not be so stupid."

That did pose a problem, but luckily Cortana was on it.

"I've already scanned this batarian's bio-metrics." She said "I'll send an identification runtime to all soldiers wearing helmet mounted targeting systems and connected to our battle net. That should be a significant amount of our forces and at least one person in every squad has someone with a helmet. I'll let them know what it's for. It should easily identify any batarians aboard."

Shepard just nodded once at Chief, and by extension Cortana.

"Do it." He said

"Already did while I was explaining it." She informed him "Now let's get moving. There are other Marines in trouble and we need to get to a lifeboat."

No arguments from the Commander and Chief agreed. They left the mess hall quickly and made their way to the next section of the ship. There was probably a few lifeboat pods not far from their position they could use.

* * *

It felt so cynical. He hesitated to say ironic because he was never if he was misusing that term. The point was Kowalski had fought tooth and nail to get on this ship and now he was being ordered to evacuate it. According to what the others had said they were going to landing somewhere. Great, a whole planet no doubt full of Covenant they'd be stranded on. Was there anyway you could go after you fell into the fire from the pan?

He should've expected as much. The Covenant weren't just going to ignore them and let them get away. They'd have to re-engage them, it was inevitable. Kowalski just wished it was on better terms. Presently he was in one of the armouries that dotted the ship. He had come here to get a better weapon than his standard assault rifle. Instead he and his squad found themselves pinned. The Covenant had gotten here first, intent on making sure their human adversaries lost their best equipment or at least most of it. This armoury was still stocked with shotguns and rifles, but they couldn't get to any of them.

Kowalski kept his head low as plasma bolts sped past him relentlessly. The metal of the gun rack was turning red hot with each shot. Just above Kowalski's head he could spy a Designated Marksman rifle, perfect for long range enemies.

Of course, life reminded him once more of how screwed he was. For every time he tried to reach up and grab the gun a plasma bolt just barely burned off his hand with a near miss. Each time Kowalski pulled back his appendage, clutching it close. He may have just avoided getting his skin melted, but he could still feel the biting heat. It was like hovering your hand over an extremely hot iron poker. You didn't get charred, but the heat was still there.

Corporal Ellingham, Kowalski's fellow squad mate and friend, was just across from him taking cover behind a gun locker. He had a shotgun on him, not the kind of weapon you needed when the bad guys were all the way over on the other end of the room. He had called for back-up from the others, but chances were they had their own problems now. It didn't help that had got no response from Sergeant Alec Taylor.

"You got any grenades?" Ellingham asked as a green plasma bolt struck the side of the locker.

"No, they're on that table just beside your locker in the line of fire." Kowalski responded, pointing to the table in question.

Ellingham could only respond with silent cursing and a stomp of his foot.

"We gotta fall back Kowalski, we ain't getting these guns." He said

"I'm not going back to the Sarge without some supplies!" Kowalski persistently stated "We'll need them if we're gonna get to the lifeboats!"

"We're not gonna get to the lifeboats anyway if we're dead!" Ellingham argued.

But before Kowalski could continue to plead his case something opened up among the ranks of the Covenant themselves. A familiar blue vortex that wrenched two grunts off their feet followed by two bursts from an assault rifle cutting into their skulls.

Kowalski had been so focused on the xenos trying to kill him he didn't spot the alien that had come to help. Samara the Asari Justicar raced inside firing her assault rifle in tandem with a biotic attack that sped across to the side and slammed a jackal into a gun locker. The elite in charge of the attack quickly hunkered down behind one of the gun racks as the renewed offensive of bullets disrupted his attempts to keep the Marines suppressed.

Samara moved up between the Marines.

"Are you alright Private Kowalski?" she asked

"Could be better," he admitted "what exactly are you doing here though? I didn't even know you were still on this deck."

"I came with them."

Asari's head motioned to the front where Elite and two more of his grunts were. Popping up through the doorway were Sergeant Taylor and Corporal Pearson. They had somehow flanked the Covies. Their assault rifles cut down the grunts as they ambushed them from behind, but while they were easy pickings the elite was not so easily crushed. Pearson had his gun knocked away by the enraged Elite and then kicked down to the ground. Taylor strafed to the side as the Elite turned back to him. Even with shields spiking he didn't seem to be letting up and plasma bolts inched closer to the Sergeant.

Quickly, Kowalski grabbed the DMR on the rack and fired two shots into the Elite's shields. Those high velocity rounds dropped the alien's protection and Samara served up another power of hers to keep him down. Her arm stretched out Samara let loose a devastating biotic ability that latched onto the Covenant officer and paralyzed him. This was Samara's reave attack, the most devastating weapon in her biotic arsenal. Kowalski wasted no time in exploiting the now disabled Elite and fired another three rounds into the alien alongside Taylor. The Covie lurched over dead at last and the armoury was secured.

Kowalski ran up to Taylor while Ellingham helped Pearson to his feet. He was groaning a bit from the wallop the alien's foot had given his stomach, but at least he hadn't gotten his face shot with a plasma rifle. He'd be beyond help then.

"How'd you get behind them?" Kowalski asked Taylor.

"Maintenance tunnel about a click or two down from the door cuts through to the adjacent hallway." Taylor explained "We waited for Samara here to get into position and then closed the trap. Sorry we couldn't tell ya, I was concerned about the Covenant monitoring our radio traffic when you said they were waiting for you so I decided to keep it quiet."

Kowalski was just happy the Sarge had come in time. Now they had a whole armoury of weapons to pick and choose from. They'd be able to get to the life boats easy now, especially with Samara with them. Although that did bring up a question in his mind he still wanted answered.

"So what are you doing on this deck anyway?" he asked

"A Justicar's work is never done." She began "I was informed a number of Covenant had breached the barricades here and was attempting to stop them as well as give any soldiers a chance to escape. I found Sergeant Taylor under fire just moments before we got your message."

Kowalski was happy to see Samara, although he felt a bit disappointed that she had just been at the right place and time and it wasn't any other specific reason. He shook that off though, there were bigger issues at hand.

"You guys find Agley and Ramirez yet?" Ellingham asked Pearson as he dug in his pack.

"Nah, nowhere up here." Pearson relented "I think they're down at least two extra decks from us. There's too many Covies between us and them. We'll never find them in the crowd."

"Well we can't just leave them!" Kowalski shouted

It was more than just the typical 'no man left behind' mentality of the Army. Agley and Ramirez were part of their decimated unit. Only a few of them had escaped Reach, the thought of losing more was something no one could tolerate.

"I don't think we have much of a choice Kowalski." Ellingham told him "The longer we stay on this ship the bigger a chance we got of being overrun."

"Or missing the lifeboats," added Pearson "if we haven't already."

No one seem to appreciate his attempt at a joke, as they all pretty much gave Pearson a stern look before returning to their conversation.

"We need to move forward and save those we can, that's all we can do Private." Taylor explained "Besides, Ramirez is a damn fine soldier. Agley's safe with him."

Pearson just snorted a bit at his Sergeant's words.

"I'm more worried about Ramirez being with Agley than the other way around." He stated

"That's not fair, Pearson." Taylor told him sternly "Agley's always been high strung and he's been under pressure, a lot of pressure."

"We're all under pressure, sir." Pearson reminded him "That's not much of an excuse. I'm just saying what we're all thinking."

Agley had never been the bravest of Marines, but no one could blame him for being scared. When push came to shove he did prove himself capable, but even Kowalski accepted he wasn't easy to place your trust in. That had never been more pronounced than back on Reach. He had been grabbed by a bunch of Covies hiding in the ceiling of an old building. Ever since then his nerves had become shot. And after the loss of most of the unit he hadn't gotten better. Once or twice the poor guy had woken up screaming in the night for one reason or another.

In contrast to Agley, Ramirez was the luckiest of them all. He was the rookie, so he hadn't gotten to know most of the unit before they got halved. Things just seemed to slide off his back after that and he adjusted pretty well. Not so with Agley. That made him a concern for Kowalski and everyone else in the squad.

"As sad as it is to say there may be nothing we can do for your comrades." Samara told them all "However, my own team mates are also strewn about the _Autumn_. I cannot help them anymore than Ramirez of Agley. But with luck, perhaps they will be able to help one another."

Kowalski just gave a relenting sigh and nodded.

"I hope you're right." he said "I guess we better get moving then, huh?"

"Well said, Private." Taylor agreed. "You too, Samara. Now let's get these guns together and haul some ass already."

* * *

It was a sorry sight to say the least. The main cannon's systems arrays were completely destroyed. The Covenant had wasted no time in blowing it. Now all that remained was a smoking hulk. Garrus shook his head what was left of the thing.

"And to think, I was only just helping tune it yesterday." He said sadly.

A warm hand was placed on his shoulder, joining him in slight depressed state.

"No amount of calibrating will fix that, buddy." Said Sergeant Buck, trying to give the Turian a laugh.

"Well, no sense crying over it now." Garrus reasoned.

They moved away from the remains of the gun to cover the perimeter with the other two members of their group, Romeo and Dutch. They kept their guns peeled on the wide corridor ahead as well as the balcony that overlooked the area. All that was supposed to be up there were terminals that regulated power flow and targeting data. But with the Covenant aboard you never knew for sure.

"So what's the plan now?" Romeo asked them

"Get back to Major Silva's position." Buck reasoned "Hope we can still make the drop."

They had been on the gunnery deck discussing weapons upgrades and trading a few stories when the Covenant hit. They had tried to save the main cannon, but the Covenant had beaten them to it. An anti-matter charge erupted through the gun and now the _Autumn_ was in serious trouble. They were in more trouble, however, as they needed to get back to the other ODSTs stationed near the back of the ship. The only way off for them was feet first.

"Do we really have to go all the way back there just to get off?" Garrus asked

"No lifeboats in this section." Buck told him. "Besides, it's the one place guaranteed to still have a few pods left for us to drop in."

"You're not just scared of taking a pod down are you, Garrus?" Dutch asked

The Turian rigorously shook his head in denial.

"No, it's just I thought there was somewhere closer is all." He explained.

"Don't worry." Romeo assured "It's not that bad, it's like a roller coaster ride. It'll be fun."

Garrus still didn't like the idea. Dropping from orbit in a tiny little metal box didn't exactly appeal to him. He probably had been spoiled after having a shuttle for so long that he had forgotten the combat drops in the Mako. That was the closest he had to an idea of what a drop-pod was like. The only difference between the two was that the pods were smaller than the Mako, a lot smaller than the Mako.

"No sense in just waiting around here." Buck told them "Let's move out, keep our eyes open and stick to cover best we can."

They exited their cover and moved into the long corridor. They needed to get back to an express elevator that would take them back down to the ODST pods. Their initial hopes were that the Covenant had left the area, their job done, and were headed to more sensitive parts of the ship. Garrus could only guess one of those was the engine room and that Tali would get out of there somehow. There was little he could do about it now though as he was all the way up here.

As they neared a stack of crates near large targeting display they saw three people moving out into the open. They appeared to be human, from a distance.

"Hey look, friendlies." Dutch observed "Maybe Silva got concerned and sent some reinforcements."

Garrus wasn't so sure, his eyes narrowed at the approaching gaggle of bipedal troops. They looked human, they had armour on, but something was off, the make of the helmets covering their heads seemed familiar. He looked to Buck to say something only to see a light flashing behind his visor.

"Something's not right." Buck spoke before Garrus could say the same thing. "My HUD is painting them in red, it doesn't make..."

He paused for a moment and gave Garrus enough time to see that the armour was not UNSC. He recognized it, he had fought people wearing it, but not from here. And as far as he knew they hadn't given out many suits to the Marines and Troopers.

And that left only one possibility.

"They're not humans!" he shouted

That seemed to get the message across and Buck pushed Dutch towards the crates for cover. He followed him shortly, his timing couldn't have been better. The armoured soldiers opened fire and took cover along the targeting array. Garrus, himself taking up cover along the crates, recognized the gunfire as Striker assault rifles, krogan guns. These guys weren't krogan of course, but he had a good idea what they were.

"We got batarians," he warned the others "they're aliens from my universe."

"I'm guessing they're the bad kind?" Romeo asked

"Their main export is slavery, you tell me." Garrus chided.

Romeo edged out to get a shot with his sniper rifle, but quickly pulled back when he saw inferno rounds striking the crate.

"Christ, every damn evil xeno wants to burn our skin off." He growled "We got a plan Sarge?"

"There are only three of them for now, so we got the advantage." Buck reasoned "They got some pretty good cover though. We need to pin them down or push them out if we want to get around to their sides and flank them."

"One good grenade lob should do the trick." Dutch figured. "You guys just be ready."

Pulling the pin on one of his grenades, Dutch stood out briefly to the left of the crates and tossed the explosive at the batarians. It smacked against the edge of the terminal and rolled forward. The batarians ran from the rolling little ball of shrapnel causing doom as it clinked against the floor among them. They bolted from cover and Romeo and Garrus didn't waste the opportunity.

As the grenade exploded the two marksmen picked their targets and fired. Garrus' Mantis sniper rifle broke through the shields of one batarian, blowing fragments of both his skull and brain out the side. Romeo aimed for center mass and fired two shots in quick succession. One cracked the shields the other cracked the alien's rib cage. Romeo just hoped he had hit his heart. He wasn't keen on alien biology after all so he just made a guess that it was where it was supposed to be. In any case the batarian didn't get back up.

"One more." Said Garrus, pointing at the corner the lone batarian was hiding behind.

Even with his friends dead the batarian was determined to press on. He fired bursts at the stacked crates, but the tide had turned now, the alien had lost momentum and Buck was determined to keep it that way.

"Suppressing fire on that corner," he ordered the others "I'm gonna make a break for the terminal and flank him."

There was time to acknowledge the order, they just followed. Buck ran up the hall to the terminal while Dutch, Garrus and Romeo opened fire on the corner. The batarian retreated back as pistol and assault rifle fire pelted his position. Buck managed to scramble behind the terminal for cover and placed his crosshairs on the alien's center mass. He suddenly spotted Buck and moved out slightly to take a shot at him. When he did. his suit became engulfed in a electrical flash.

"Shields are down, finish him!" Garrus shouted, pulling back his omni-tool from a successful overload strike.

Buck obliged and fired fire rounds from his DMR. The Batarian fell forward dead, his helmet slipping off as he did. Romeo finally got a good look through the scope of his rifle at what batarians looked like. He winced slightly.

"Ugh, four eyes and lumpy skin." He said, before adding mockingly "They make you look pretty Garrus."

"You're just jealous cause you don't have a fringe." The turian responded coolly.

Buck was about to stand up and rejoin the squad, but when he did he noticed a glint against his eyes coming from across the way on the overhanging level above. There weren't just targeting arrays up there anymore. He ducked back down just in time as a powerful blast of energy zipped out and struck the terminal. The line of energy melted the metal and steel, causing the terminal to spark.

"Covenant sniper!" he warned the others "Stay away out of the open!"

With his friend in peril, Garrus cautiously left the crate stack and moved along the right wall towards the corner. With the dead batarian at his feet he readied the targeting visor over his eye. Romeo and Dutch soon joined behind him.

"You see where it came from?" Garrus asked Buck from across the way.

"Upper level." The Sergeant replied "Careful, he's got our position zeroed in."

Garrus looked out momentarily scanning the upper level for potential discrepancies. Signs of movement or a glint of the sights or even the sound of the weapon charging could give the Covenant marksman away. However, when he believed he saw something move he quickly had to pull back as another shot of energy cut across where his head had been just seconds before.

"Guy is good." He admitted "We're got to take his vision off me for a second if we're going to nail him."

"We could trick him into revealing his position." Dutch suggested.

Garrus agreed and turned back to Buck's position.

"Take off your helmet, prop it up with your gun." He told him

He couldn't really see Buck while he was hunkered behind the terminal, but he could hear him moving about. The helmet soon rose up above the terminal's protective shell and Buck waved it around a bit. But after several seconds of a good clean shot, nothing.

"He's not taking it." Romeo observed, sounding exasperated

"He's smarter than that." Garrus reasoned "We can't wait around here all day, though, so we need a trick he doesn't know."

"I really wish I brought smoke grenade now." Dutch grumbled

While they didn't have that, it gave Garrus an idea. He poked his Mantis' barrel out and peered through the scope. He eyed the terminals and arrays that lined the hall and switched to armour-piercing rounds. If the Covie was in hiding then they'd need to take away HIS cover, mainly the dark of the second level.

Garrus fired several consecutive shots. Just as with Buck's targeting terminal from the energy blast, the screens and computers on the wall sparked and burst apart as the rounds impacted them. Bits and pieces of metal and embers spewed forth from their electronic housings and soon Garrus spied the outline of the enemy. Couldn't see much of anything in the dark but he could make out a distinctive silhouette, bird-like.

Garrus fired rounds at the shadow and watched as it bolted up and began to run along the upper level. He followed out into the open, firing on the darkness, trying to catch the fleeing alien, but to no avail.

"Jackal sniper, gone now." He told the others glibly "Better move before he comes back.

Buck jumped out from behind the terminal, his helmet strapped back on.

"My thoughts exactly," he agreed "we got bigger problems than him right now. Elevator is just there."

Buck pointed to a large grated door before them along the wall at the end. Quickly, the team rushed over and inside the compartment. Buck slammed his fist hard on the express button for the lower levels. As they did they could hear the distinct sound of rumbling and struggled to stand as the whole ship seemed to shake. It was a grim reminder of their larger predicament. They needed to get to the pods and fast.

* * *

How was it that this was the second time this had happened and again she was stuck in engineering? It almost seemed like it was the designated placed for her to make a stand on a ship that was being boarded. The Covenant had wasted no time in storming every deck and now the engineering room was next.

The crew hands stationed here had raided the armoury, taking up pistols and assault rifles where they could get them. They had trained with firearms when they joined the UNSC, but it wasn't their field. They weren't combat engineers after all, they were just meant to keep the reactor running. But boarders or no boarders that duty still stood.

Luckily they weren't the only ones defending engineering. There were some marines scattered about the section and potential reinforcements were on their way. They were Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, they were better equipped for this. However, it would be awhile before they arrived and from the sound of things they wouldn't make it in time.

So for now they were staying to hold the area until relieved. Once the ODSTs arrived they would take over the majority of the defensive action. Hopefully, they would be able to cover the engineers while they made a break for the escape pods. The ODSTs themselves had their own way out, so they didn't have to worry so much about them afterwards.

Tali slapped in a fresh heat sink into her shotgun. She, like everyone else, had heard the general evacuation orders and they had a way off the engineering deck so they weren't trapped, but they couldn't leave yet.

If the Covenant somehow blew the reactor no one was getting off the _Autumn_ period. One could argue that the Covenant would never blow up the ship with all of them on it, but after witnessing what they had done to themselves and what they were willing to do to win, Tali wasn't about to take chances. Not with so many lives at stake.

She had offered to help organize a few members of the Engineering crew. It wasn't special privilege they had slapped on her. All members the senior staff were getting their own makeshift fire teams. She was Chief Engineer of the Normandy, so it only made sense.

First, they locked down the reactor. The Covenant wouldn't be able to compromise the core with the vent clamps in place, not unless they had special permission from the Captain himself. There was no way Keyes would do that for them, even if they asked nicely. That just left making sure any anti-matter charges they brought were useless. So they were going to set up an ambush.

Tali had her people positioned on the upper level overlooking the main entrance. They had sealed the secondary door just a few minutes prior. If they wanted to get inside quickly they only had one option. She had her pistol out and ready for when they did. One good shot from the phalanx and any explosive packing Covenant soldier would be down on the ground in a pool of blood.

"You think there are still some lifeboats left?" asked one of the engineers "I mean it's not like they're supposed to wait for us."

Tali turned back to the man, Jeff she believed his name was. He wasn't scared, but he did seem anxious. She had to agree with him. Evacuation was like a ticking clock and the second Keyes had issued it everyone had gotten a little concerned. They were losing the _Autumn_, they were in the middle of nowhere and the Covenant were bombarding them. They couldn't be blamed for feeling worried.

"Let's just focus on making sure we'll be able to reach the lifeboats first." She told Jeff "Now, the second they cross into the kill zone we'll open fire. Engineer Redford already has his people standing by just across from us. They won't know what hit them."

"You sound like you've done this before." Said another engineer, Rick was his name as Tali remembered.

"I've run into more ambushes than set them actually." She admitted "You just pick this stuff up after awhile."

She wasn't sure if that inspired confidence. At the very least they didn't looked demoralised. That was a good sign. There was little time to properly figure it out though. The doors to engineering soon slid open and a grunt toddled inside, surrounded by a pack of his fellows. They made those strange heavy breathing sounds, whimpering as they came in.

Just behind them were two elites scanning the room for hostiles as they entered. There was a third alien though, one that was all too familiar for Tali. He didn't have a helmet on so everyone could plainly see, even though he stood erect and had five fingers instead of talons, he was not human. He was a batarian.

Tali should've known that after they had encountered the bosh'tets on Reach they'd eventually run into them again. Especially since they had pretty much decimated the Blood Pack, at least as far as they knew. The Covenant needed to fall back on some kind of ally after that. Thankfully even this one hadn't noticed what was going on. Soon enough he, along with the rest of the Covenant, walked into the awaiting crossfire of Tali and Engineer Redford's fire teams.

That was when they struck. Tali jumped up first and pointed her omni-tool out in front of them. Emerging before the brigade of covies was a rolling ball of energy It was the ever faithful combat drone Tali had affectionately named Chiktikka vas Paus. The drone quickly zapped the first grunt closest to it, momentarily calling attention to the front of the column. That gave the squads on either side a chance to take them even more unawares. They jumped up from cover and opened fire on the grouping of Covenant.

The grunts were quick to die first, of course. Bullets soaked into them from both sides of the corridor as Redford's team, armed with assault rifles and pistols, pumped lead into their bodies. Tali's people, firing from on high with the same weapons, focus on their leaders. One of the Elites took several pistol rounds to his shields before he could get to cover. The heavy set calibre rounds cut him down with ease as he attempted to fire back.

But the remaining Elite and Batarian quickly dashed for cover behind a free standing server terminal situated on the floor level. It didn't offer much in the way of cover on either side, but it was really all they could manage to get to. Meanwhile, the grunts that were still alive were running for cover, their focus mostly on Chiktikka as the little drone continued to hound them around the engineering floor.

Tali knew the little drone could take care of herself, so she focused instead on the pressing threat of the two still living enemy officers. The Batarian kept huddled just out of view, firing his assault rifle against the railing of the overhanging upper level. Tali kept her head down and out of view as she traversed to properly flank him.

All the while, the second Elite was pinning down Redford's team. Tali decided to take care of the Batarian first. It would free her up to take care of the Elite with Redford and the others. A quick change on her omni-tool's settings and she leapt up from cover. Spark ignited against the Batarian's shields and he found that they had been drained.

He didn't have time to ponder it though. The next second the laser pointer of the Phalanx was centered squarely on his head and a single shot from the high powered pistol blew his third eye clean out. The Elite looked back to see his four eyed comrade downed and now Tali centered her laser sight on him.

"Take him!" she heard Redford shout.

Tali had already obliged firing what was left in her thermal clip at the Covenant officer. The elite fired back with a hailstorm of plasma bolts, but assault rifle fire from behind and from the front overwhelmed him. It didn't take long before the outnumbered covie was perforated.

As the final Elite lay dying on the floor, Tali jumped the railing and landed upon the ground. There was one final Covenant soldier inside engineering. That being the grunt who had been in the middle of the pack and he was still carrying the anti-matter charge. He had managed to outrun Chiktikka, who had by now used up her energy reserves for her combat runtime. The little alien stumbled over himself, clumsily trying to fire back on Tali as she ran after him. She ducked and rolled forward, letting the plasma bursts pass harmlessly over her head. The grunt fiddled with his anti-matter charge, trying to arm it with one hand while charging his plasma pistol to full power with the other. Tali knelt down as she saw the distinctive green glow and put her laser sights squarely on the gas sucking alien. One shot was all it took. The round sailed through the air and caught the grunt in his temple. The giant green plasma bolt fired upwards, striking the ceiling harmlessly.

Tali rushed over to the body and pried the anti-matter charge from the alien's corpse. Redford and the other engineers soon joined her by her side. Redford, his distinctive ginger stubble and hair standing out among the others members of engineering, eyed the explosive device.

"Souvenir?" he asked her

"Never know when it might be useful." She said, securing the device and strapping it to the utility belt around her waist.

The charge had been disarmed, so it wouldn't go off prematurely. With any luck she wouldn't end up using it and maybe she could get a chance to study it, but she'd see. For now she turned back to Redford and the others.

"Well that's settled. Let's get to the emergency elevator and up a few decks." Redford suggested "Maybe we can still hitch a ride."

It was then that the secondary entrance that burst open. A cloud of dissipating plasma rushed inside the room. Following it soon after was a full squad of elites, armed to the mandibles with plasma rifles. It didn't take them long to spot Tali and her fellow engineers. With the tables turned once more the engineers ran for cover as plasma bolts sailed past them. They were clearly out matched by the superior strength and numbers of the Covenant. From her position Tali could hear other members of the engineering crew making mad dashes for the exit elevators, their weapons churning out bullets at the enemy but to no avail. She spotted one deckhand across from their position get gunned down by two elites as he stood his ground.

Bravery wouldn't help them in this situation. They had already pulled back to the cover offered by the upper level, but it was clear they had to leave along the lines of the others. Plus this wasn't their fight anymore. Tali watched from above as a squad of ODSTs on the catwalks fired onto the Elites below. They had shown up in the nick of time and two Elites were gunned down by the impressive display of firepower the ODSTs were packing. The deadly rain of fire from above was their cue to go, they had done their job.

"Get to the emergency lift! Now!" Tali shouted at the others

Her fellow tech heads seemed to have just been waiting for someone, anyone, to say that. They quickly left cover, keeping their heads low to the ground, as they made their way to the emergency exit doors. Of course pulling back meant the Covenant could just surge forward and that was exactly what they did. Three elites bounded up the ramp to the second level. Tali activated Chiktikka once more, hoping it would give her fellow engineers more time to get to the elevator. The little drone sped towards the enemy, powering up it shock capacitors. It fired a full blast straight into the face of the lead elite.

"That's right Chiktikka." Tali said to herself as she pulled back. "Go for the optics like I programmed you."

Tali kept her position behind a work terminal, giving the engineers cover fire as they made a beeline for the exit. Sadly it was a position she soon had to abandon. Chiktikka was a powerful and capable drone, but she was not invincible. Although injured the lead elite recovered, his shields taking the brunt of the damage from the little drone. Chiktikka was soon pummelled with plasma bolt after plasma bolt. Unable to retain her physical form from all the damage, the combat drone dissipated, leaving Tali on her own.

The quarian made a dash for the exit where the other crew hands were. The doors slammed shut behind her once she entered. Tali then used her pistol to fire into the locking mechanism. It wasn't elegant or permanent but it would have to do for now.

She was now inside the stairwell for the _Autumn_, which winded up towards the top of the engine room. Everyone on the engineering staff was currently on the bottom floor rushing out of there as fast as possible.

"Elevator is through the back door!" Redford said pointing Tali towards it. "Come on!"

But as soon as Tali moved up, the door behind them was blasted open. From the sound of it the Covenant had used plasma grenades to take it down. The three Elites that had been chasing them stomped through the doorway as the plasma cloud vanished. They levelled their weapons at the group of engineers. Tali and Redford pointed their guns back, ready to fire. But they wouldn't have to.

There was a loud whizzing sound from above on the stairwell. Speeding into their view, for a split second, came a rocket. It slammed into the doorway, engulfing the Elites in a fire ball. Tali and Redford were surprised for a moment. None of them had a rocket launcher, but someone apparently did. Dropping down from above, Kat showed herself lugging a rocket launcher over her shoulder.

"Heard the engine deck was in trouble and wasn't that far away." she explained "Figured I could help."

"Glad you decided to." Tali agreed "Now let's move before their friends come!"

They soon joined the other engineers through the door and found themselves in a rather large elevator shaft.

"This lift will take us up to a service deck just a few floors up." Redford told them "There should still be some lifeboats there which we can use. Not sure if they'll have a pilot for us when we get there though."

"I can fly us out." Kat promised "I've done some simulations before."

"It'll have to do." Tali concurred as they made their way towards the lift.

As they neared it however, plasma bolts forced the three apart. Three more elites had replaced the ones Kat had killed and were advancing slowly on their little group. All of them were armed with plasma swords, primed and ready to cut them down.

The engineers on the lift pointed their weapons towards the door, hesitating to pull the trigger with both Kat and Tali in the way. Tali popped out her shotgun and fired two quick blasts in the direction of one of the elites, taking him down with relative ease. Kat caught the attention of the second, firing her pistol at the Covie as he turned to her. He swiped at her with a sword, but the Spartan III easily ducked it. She delivered a powerful punch with her new synthetic arm straight to his gut and then followed up with a nasty uppercut that put him down on his back.

As Kat went to finish him off, Tali aimed her shotgun at the final Elite standing, but he charged, shoulder checking her. The gun went off harmlessly into the air and Tali fell to the floor. The Elite levelled his plasma sword at her head. Tali started to make a move for her pistol, hoping she was faster than the Covenant officer.

But once again, she wouldn't have to use it.

In the next second, an omni-blade stabbed straight through the Elite's solar plexus. He contorted his body forward in agony before the blade exited and rammed itself through his neck. He tumbled over sideways revealing someone slowly becoming visible from behind where he once stood. Appearing before Tali's eyes was the all too familiar hooded face of another of her friends.

"Kasumi?"

"Oh don't be surprised," the ever reliable thief said as her cloak vanished "I'm always coming to save you lately."

Kasumi stretched out her hand to pick her Quarian friend up.

"Now, let's get off this tub shall we?" she asked

* * *

The grunt scampered around the floor, firing wildly at the Marines outside the narrow corridor. He wasn't much of a match for them alone, but he was still a threat. That and he had an Elite friend in front him of him taking most of the direct fire. This was why the Master Chief decided to end it quickly. He slammed the butt of his rifle into the back of the alien's skull and watched him topple over. It didn't take much to kill a grunt, especially when you had modified strength. He next fired a full stream of bullets straight into the Elite as he stood there. A powerful shotgun blast followed, courtesy of Commander Shepard who was standing beside the Spartan. It was a cryo round and with the Covie's shields down the alien turned to ice within moments. Chief wasted no time butting the flash frozen elite's head in with his rifle. The alien crumbled before him.

"Think you could use bullets that can do that?" Cortana asked him."Would cut down on the mess we leave behind."

"So long as they stay down when I use it I'm fine with any ammunition." Chief admitted "Although I guess less blood on my armour would be welcomed."

Chief turned back to the Marines who stared at him with awe.

"See I told you there was one on board." Said one elbowing his friend

"Shut up," sneered the second Marine in a hushed whisper "don't embarrass us in front of him."

Shepard chuckled a little at the scene.

"Looks like you got fans." He said smirking.

"Blame ONI for that, we're the worst kept secret weapon ever." Chief replied.

Chief didn't mind being looked up to, although he could at times do without the wide eyed wonderment. He supposed it was inevitable though, they had always been designed with shock value in mind.

The brief respite lasted all of five more seconds when a sudden terrible rumble shook the ship. The Marines gripped their rifles tightly as they steadied themselves. A scratching groaning sound of metal on metal could be heard next.

"The hell?" asked one "Did something just hit us?"

"Move in! Back to the airlock!" the other shouted

The two took off with Shepard and the Chief close behind. They rounded the corner and found themselves near the entrance to what looked like a lifeboat launch station. Two more Marines were guarding the entrance, but not for long. A plasma blast erupted from the airlock door, sending the poor soldiers flying clear into the opposing wall. Spilling out from the lifeboat airlock was a whole squad of Covenant, two elites and a pack of five grunts for each of them. Shepard and the Master Chief ducked for the cover of the doorframe as plasma bolts flew at them. The Covenant began to back up from airlock, seeking the cover of some crates near the next bend in the corridor.

"Oh no you don't," Shepard declared as he jumped out of cover.

He slung his arm forward sending a cascade of biotic energy rippling across the ground. It sent three of the grunts flying up into the air, smacking against the ceiling. Shepard sprayed his SMG at them as they floated and ran forward towards the airlock entrance way in pursuit of the other Covenant. Chief covered him with assault rifle fire, he took down a grunt and caught the ire of a nearby Elite. The alien artfully dodged the Spartan's gunfire as he moved towards the Spartan. Chief dashed out of cover, still popping off rounds as the alien closed. The Elite landed some hits with his plasma rifle and the Chief shields sparked, but he had already closed the gap between him and his foe by then. The Covenant officer threw out a punch but Chief easily dodged it by going underneath the swinging arm. He popped back up behind him, kicked him in the square of the back once and then fired a full magazine of rounds straight into the alien's back. The Elite lurched forward, his shields quickly dying from powerful kick made him easy prey for the bullets that followed.

But Chief was out in the open and it gave the still living Elite a perfect target. He felt a sting on his shoulder as his shields went down, a plasma bolt ripped across his field of vision. He fired back, even as the plasma began to singe and tear at his skin. Even through his heavy armour he could still feel the pain.

Cortana was quick to cut in with her own bit of commentary for the event.

"Keep your head down there's two of us in here now remember!?"

Chief threw himself into cover along with Shepard within the doorway of the airlock.

"I remember." He told the AI, trying not to sound annoyed "Thanks for the concern."

He looked up from his position and saw the inside of the airlock shaft. It definitely wasn't a human lifeboat that was docked in here. It was purple for one and elongated. The lights resonated with a blue glow and alien writing adorned the walls.

"They're using our lifeboat airlocks to attach their boarding craft!" Cortana shouted, seemingly amazed by the ingenuity. "We go out and they come in! Clever bastards."

"Marvel at it later Cortana." Chief said as he stood up "We need to clear this deck."

"Agreed," the AI responded, going back to a more reserved and matter of fact disposition "motion tracker suggests they're using the crates for cover by now. Sadly we don't have any grenades or this would be easy. Perhaps the Commander can help."

Chief looked to Shepard who shrugged.

"No grenades," he admitted "but I got something."

Shepard looked out upon the open terrain and then launched another blue ball. It split in two and flew behind the crates. Two grunts were pulled out from behind, kicking and screaming as they floated.

"Nice trick." Chief said, genuinely impressed although one could not tell.

Switching to his pistol Chief fired two shots into the floating grunts and watched as the other Covenant fled the position for the other bend in the hall.

"More Covenant in the next corridor if the motion tracker is anything to go by." Cortana warned "Be careful boys."

"No promises." Shepard responded.

He pulled out of cover and Chief followed. Pressing themselves up against the edge of the entranceway Shepard peeked out to get a look.

"How many?" Chief asked

A few plasma bolts struck the bulkhead around Shepard and he retracted his head back almost instantly.

"Lots." He stated simply. "This is going to require a few more... advanced tactics, splitting their focus should do the trick."

"Commander, if you're suggesting a flanking manoeuvre I don't see how you could pull it off in there." Cortana informed him.

"Don't worry I'll manage." He responded "I'll head in first, get them from behind, you just follow me in and take them down while they're focused on me. Let's go!"

Shepard was off before Chief could discuss the plan further. He ran around the corner and the next thing Chief heard was some kind whooshing sound. He followed and found the Commander at the very back of the hall in another bend in the hallway. He was behind a plasma drop shield with an Elite bearing down on him. In between the Chief and Shepard were a few more grunts, two more elites and the airlock to the right of the corridor.

Almost as if anticipating his question, Cortana chimed in.

"Don't ask me." She said "There was nothing in the codex files about biotics teleporting. Just get in there!"

Chief needed no further prompting. He jumped up from cover and rushed forward, firing his pistol into the heads of two grunts. The little gas suckers went down hard. A third ran up to Chief firing, earning a painful strike across his face from pistol's stock. The gas mask flew off as the little stump legged alien fell against the ground.

The Elites stood in the Chief's way now, earning equal measure assault rifle bursts as he rushed forward. He tackled one of the elites to the ground and crushed his face in with the butt of his rifle. The second Elite fired on him with his plasma rifle, but Master Chief wrenched the weapon of the fallen Elite from his now lifeless hands. He aimed and fired the gun at Covie at full throttle, letting the weapon smoke and flare as it began to overheat. It was worth the burning sensation against his hand. The Elite's shields flickered and died as the bolts hit him. He was forced up against the wall where the cauterised wounds took their toll and the Elite slowly slid down to the floor.

The adrenaline rush quieted and the tunnel vision of combat faded, Chief stood up in time to see Shepard struggling with the final Elite. The alien was throwing punches at the Commander, trying to wallop him and then shoot him alternately.

Finally, the Commander got his shotgun stuck in the back of the Covie and fired a close range inferno round. The kept him down for good. When Shepard turned back to the main hall he was surprised to find Master Chief had already finished things on his end. At least that's what his face told the Spartan.

"Whoa." He said surprised "You work fast."

"You're slow, you're dead." Chief responded, standing up as he walked back up to the Commander. "It's one of the first rules of combat."

"Yeah the drill sergeant loved pounding that one into me too." Shepard admitted "Course you must've heard it for a lot longer being..."

Shepard suddenly clammed up as he looked the Master Chief, unable to complete his sentence fully. Chief looked at him confused, expecting him to continue. Although he had an idea of what he was about to say. He wouldn't have cared all that much if he just came out and said it. It would have been a change from people just tip-toeing around the proverbial elephant in the room. Sadly, Shepard wasn't willing to be that person.

"Never mind." The Commander stated as he looked away.

The short awkward silence that preceded the exchange was interrupted by the two Marines catching up to the two hardened veterans. One of them whistled at the handiwork spewed across the floors and walls.

"Nice job sirs!" he said giving them both a thumbs-up.

"You better get going, Chief!" the other added "We'll stay here and secure this airlock."

"Just be sure you get out on a boat when you can." The Spartan ordered them "We'll need everyone down there on that ring."

The Marines just seemed to smile broadly and ran off to secure the area. Chief and Shepard began to make their way out of the corridor.

"Lifeboats are already gone here." Shepard noted "I hope we haven't run out."

"My sensors are detecting several dozen more in this section alone." Cortana assured "We'll have a ride if we hurry. Let's just hope that every pod that's left hasn't had its dock filled by now. Otherwise we're in real trouble."

As if this wasn't already real trouble, Master Chief thought. Not even an hour after waking up, their ship had been attacked, covies were pouring through literally every hole they could find and their only hope of salvation was some strange ring planet floating in the void of space. What was that saying in the Navy of old? The only easy day was yesterday? If only everyone knew how true that was. Compared to Reach this was going bad way faster, and he just knew it was going to get worse.


	4. AIs, Cyborgs and Vanguards First!

Chapter 3: AI Constructs, Cyborgs and Vanguards First!

The plasma charge took the airlock doors clean off their hinges and the cadre of the little gas sucking midgets ran in first. The Sangheili officer assigned to their pod pushed passed him, taking lead. Fine by him, his boys would get their meat eventually.

When they came onto the brown damp corridors of the human ship, the defenders were already scattering. Just a bunch of vermin defending their sinking vessel, they were pathetic. He fired his heavy pistol at one human as he tried to make his way to a door at the end of the hall. He spied another peeking out to flank him and fired another round straight into his head.

Good kills, about damn time too. They had gotten so little action on Reach in the latter half of the campaign. Now they were getting what Balak had promised when they assigned his cell to this duty. Hopefully he'd appreciate the after action report he'd send him later on.

One of the men ran up to him, saluting.

"Lieutenant Commander Vorvak, the humans seem to have run off further into the ship." He said "They're using the maintenance shafts, back corridors, service elevators. Communiqués say we've lost a number of squads in the fighting."

Already dead Batarians and he had only just gotten onboard.

"Damn, should have gotten here sooner." He stated gruffly "Well, no matter. Inform all squads I'm retaking command of them. They are to report to me from now on in person or on the radio if not possible."

"Already done, sir." The Batarian soldier replied "Not sure how the Sangheili will take that though."

Vorvak looked to the single Elite officer who just huffed at him and walked off.

"We're here as guests, they don't care as long as we stay out of their way." He mused, almost disappointed "It doesn't matter, have any of the squads found Shepard?"

"None have reported sightings of his crew so far." The soldier replied

Which meant they had either not encountered them yet or they had and now they were dead. Curse that wretched human and his cadre of alien garbage. How they were killing his men he could not know, save for luck possibly.

"We have located his ship, however." The soldier quickly stated "The Sangheili are moving to engage and several squads are making an effort to press forward to the ship as well."

Vorvak nodded and grinned.

"Then we shall join them. Delivering Commander Shepard or his ship to Covenant will surely secure our favour among their ranks." He stated "Keep an eye out for any crew members of the Normandy, however. And remember, I want them alive."

With that, Vorvak and his Batarian troopers moved out into the ship, their destination, the hanger deck.

* * *

Not long ago the rec-room housed a decent dartboard and a holo-hockey table. Now that dartboard had a hole burned through it from a few too many needler rounds and the holo-hockey table was turned on its side and serving as cover. Ramirez himself had been enjoying watching Elites get their brains blown out just a few short hours ago on a movie screen. Now he had the real ones trying to do the same to him. He had almost forgotten they were at war in the twenty some odd days they had fled Reach. Now he was getting a painful reminder.

Agley was beside, only armed with his pistol and shaking like mad. If he just had a better weapon maybe his nerves wouldn't be so shocked. However, Agley had dropped his assault rifle just outside the room when a plasma grenade went off close by. Ramirez had managed to tackle them both into the doorway and away from the blast, but that left Agley's rifle in the hallway, his hands slipping away from the weapon as his fellow Private slammed into him. Their only saving grace now was the hockey table and the fact the Elites seemed to believe that keeping them pinned was satisfactory enough for the moment.

"We're gonna miss our ride just sitting here." Agley said at last through his shell shocked demeanour.

"Don't remind me." Ramirez told him "We just need to get them off our backs for a second or a way to get out of their line of fire so we can return the favour."

"Starting wish I brought a grenade." Agley grumbled sadly. "Why are we never ready for this crap when it goes down?"

A question Ramirez himself had asked before. Now wasn't the time to think about it though. He looked around for something to use. Maybe he could fake a grenade toss or get a good enough angle on their legs to knock them off balance. Then he spied the single still intact light above them, the only source of illumination now left in this half destroyed room.

"Agley, your helmet's eye piece still got that low-level light vision setting?" he asked his fellow Marine.

"Yeah I think so." He replied "Fat lot of good it does us though."

Ramirez pointed his assault rifle up at the light above them.

"Just activate it on my say so and get ready to move." He told Agley "One, two, go!"

Ramirez squeezed the trigger and his gun spewed out a torrent of bullets at the light above. The glass shattered and the brightness faded. The former rec-room was now cast in darkness, catching the Elites by surprise. They knew the humans were making a move, perhaps trying to get out another way. There was a secondary door to the room which they could get out from. They just hadn't been able to use it while pinned behind the table. The head Elite in red armour motioned his partner in blue to cover the second entrance. He did so with a quick little nod of the head and without question. They hadn't heard the Marines make a run for the door yet so they were probably still inside. They wouldn't escape so easily now with both exits covered.

They couldn't see inside still and they couldn't just throw in a grenade since they were out themselves. There had been just too many easy targets to stick on their way here. The only option they had would be to go in and take the humans themselves. That would be risky since they could easily just sneak past and escape if they did. There was another way though. The first Elite fired a few stray plasma shots into the room, attempting to lighten it up a bit for a second and perhaps see the enemy. The split second of light showed nothing. The Humans were hiding once more, staying out of sight, probably further back in the room where the light didn't reach.

Well if they couldn't see the wretched creatures maybe they could hear them. The Elite leaned his head in ever so slightly, keeping his senses at the ready. The slightest sound or bit of movement in the dark would give the humans away. It did hear a sound, for a brief second and felt something breathing close by as he stuck his head in. It was only then the elite realised it had made a terrible mistake. Bullets from an assault rifle pounded against his armour at close range, followed by two powerful pistol shots that tore through the shields and then the skull.

Ramirez and Agley ran out the door as the alien fell. It was a sucker punch to be sure, but war wasn't fair. They had been lucky though. Lying in wait near the doorway, hoping one of them wouldn't spy them moving in the dark, hoping that their guns at close range would be powerful enough to tear the enemy apart. It had been a long shot. It worked, but they only got one elite out of the plan. And the one in red armour was none too pleased by the death of his friend. He fired at them as they ran for cover behind a barrier. Agley was just a little too slow though. One of plasma shots hit him in the back of the leg. Agley tumbled over into cover, clutching himself and swearing up a storm. The armour had diminished some of the attack, but it still burned like hell.

Through all the F-words and screams Ramirez attempted to get the wounded private to settle down, but Agley just kept squirming, clutching his leg like mad. There was no risk of bleeding out, plasma cauterized, but Agley wasn't thinking about that. He felt like he was on fire and that was all that mattered at the moment. All Ramirez could do was keep him pinned against the barrier, trying to keep him from running out into the open to get gunned down by plasma. He wasn't sure if Agley would really do that, but people made mistakes under stress and Agley wasn't exactly a cool headed Marine to begin with.

The Elite approached, the sounds of the screaming human filling the halls. This would be over all too quickly in his mind. At least he'd put the dumb animal out of his misery. But as he neared the barrier ready to strike the humans down he felt a presence behind him.

Then everything went black.

Ramirez watched as the pulped head of the Elite fell to the floor next to him. Blood pooled around the side of the barrier. The hell had just happened? He looked up and saw their saviour, a sniper rifle totting machine they had become somewhat familiar with.

"You appeared to require assistance." Legion said as it lowered the rifle and approached.

Ramirez helped Agley up and hobbled him over to the machine.

"Thank God," he said "you came at just the right time."

"Program-DOT detected human life signs in this corridor." Legion explained "We determined the best course of action was to investigate"

Agley was quick to cut to the chase.

"Please tell me you got that Medi-Gel stuff on ya!" he shouted through a pained gasp "You Normandy folks always got that stuff!"

Legion activated its omni-tool and knelt down to the burned area. He activated the administration procedures, spreading the salve over the wound.

"You will require a moment to adjust." It said as it stood up "We suggest you remain with us. Program-DOT is already mapping the fastest route to the nearest lifeboat."

No argument there, Ramirez thought that ring planet out the window was looking better every second by now. However they didn't get far before they heard a terrible crescendo of gun fire and explosions from around the bend in the hall behind them. Legion pulled out its assault rifle and aimed at the corridor.

"Potential hostiles approaching. Remain behind us." It ordered.

But as Legion pointed the gun forward, they saw something scamper out of the hallway. It was a grunt on fire. The little gas sucker was screaming bloody murder as flames engulfed its flesh and tank. Suddenly the tank ruptured and the methane inside caught fire. The explosion sent the little alien hurtling through the air like a fire ball only to smash into the wall. The next moment an Elite was flung out in the open. He scrambled to get his plasma rifle and pointed it at his foe which revealed itself in the form of creature that shared the name of the previous alien, but no other similarities. The Normandy's Krogan, Grunt, leapt out from behind the bend and slammed both his fists into the Elite's chest. As the krogan super-soldier straddled the Covenant officer he began to wailing on him with both his massive arms. Purple blood stained the floor and more of the gas suckers ran out, either on fire or being gunned down by the bushel.

"That's right!" Shouted a Cockney accent over the fray. "Run! Run like the little shitheads you are!"

As Grunt finished his pummelling, the second attacker became known. Stepping out into the open was the Normandy's mercenary crew member, Zaeed Massani. He held a Mattock rifle in one hand and an incendiary grenade in the other. He looked to Grunt, now caked in purple blood and then over to Legion and the other Marines.

"Heh, if it ain't the world's deadliest toaster." Zaeed greeted the geth. "Fancy running into you down here, honestly thought you'd be on the Normandy."

"We were attempting to assist in the rescue of UNSC Marines." Legion stated flatly. "Are either of you injured?"

"Nah, we're fine." Grunt answered cracking his neck slightly as he joined the group. "The other guys could use it more... if they weren't dead."

The krogan laughed that strange chuckle of his. The one that sounded like it was mocking you. Agley got everyone back on track though.

"Uh has DOT found a lifeboat yet?" he asked

Legion's head perked up and DOT's voice reverberated from the platform.

"We have successfully located a number of lifeboats not yet launched." She said "Way points have been added to your Heads-Up displays where applicable. I will direct you along the fastest possible route, barring potential blockages in our path."

Music to Ramirez's ears, they had a way off this tub. He turned to agley and set him down on his leg.

"Think you can walk there now?" he asked

"Yeah, I'll be fine." He said nodding rapidly "Let's just get the hell out of here already."

"Fine by me," Zaeed agreed as he put a fresh thermal clip into his gun "I'm getting sick of these boring brown hallways anyway. Lead the way Toaster."

Legion obliged the request and led them down the hallway along DOT's path. They were almost out and with some of the Normandy crew with them Ramirez thought their chances had just sky rocketed.

* * *

Halfway to the ODST drop-pods and they had run into a literal road block. Army Troopers, Colonel Holland's men, were making their stand in this service deck corridor. They had gotten a bunch of tables and gun racks and were using them as makeshift barricades. Their opponents were a four man squad of Elites and they had the advantage of better cover in the form of weapons crates stored in the hall. It did not look good to say the least. There only a few trickles of assault rifle fire blaring at the moment.

Garrus, Buck, Dutch and Romeo found themselves in an ample position to help though. Positioned to the back of the Covenant position they could take them from behind, give them something else to shoot at. Of course the problem was that something would be them. They would need to plan this out carefully first.

"Romeo can double snipe two of them with Garrus before they know we're here." Buck suggested "That leaves two of them left though and they will quickly go to ground. So you may not get as easy a second shot."

"Don't worry," Garrus said "I can probably get them out of cover with a concussive shot if I'm lucky. And then there's the troopers, they can lend a hand once we sandwich them between us."

"Don't rely on them too much." Romeo warned "They're barely shooting now, they could have wounded."

With that said Garrus got into position on the opposite corner. He readied his rifle, as did Romeo on the other side. They picked their targets wisely, the closet to them. They placed the crosshairs over their heads carefully and counted to three. At that moment they fired. The projectiles sailed across towards their targets. Romeo's bullet cut clean through his Elite. Garrus had fired two shots in quick succession. One was meant to kill the shields of his Elite, the second to put him down. The Elites slumped forward as the shots struck the back of their heads. Their comrades in arms instantly turned their attention to the two snipers and fired on their positions with devastating accuracy. Garrus quickly pulled back into cover as did Romeo. The plasma melted the steel bulkhead as they huddled in their cover. Buck and Dutch stood back. They couldn't get past the fire either.

Garrus wasn't going to get a concussive shot off in this. If only he had a diversion. As if the universe read his mind he got one. Two clean shots fired out from the barricades, striking the Elites in their backs. They didn't penetrate their shields, but it split their focus for a moment. Both responded by firing back on the barricades as they slinked into cover to avoid the snipers' crosshairs. Instead a ball of fire roared out from the barricade and slammed into the Elites. As the flames engulfed them, Garrus recognized the attack as an inferno blast and only one person had that attack on board.

Garrus ran out into the corridor before Buck could tell him to stop. He rushed up to the barricades and found that behind them were a number of wounded Army Troopers and one familiar face standing voer them patching them up.

"Garrus. Though it was you." Mordin said as he looked up from one of his patients "Sound of Mantis rifle distinctive. Few possess it. Even now. Good to see you. Worried others were in trouble. Couldn't do anything. Busy with Troopers here."

As per usual, the Salarian professor talked a mile a minute, but it was still good to see he was okay.

"Glad to see ya Professor." He told him "How are they exactly?"

"Good to walk." Mordin stated as he brought one of the troopers to his feet "Need to get off ship though. Deck elevator nearby leads to their designated pad. In contact with pilot. Waiting now. Not for long though. Best hurry."

Garrus jumped over the barricade and helped the professor get his patients to their feet. Buck's squad soon caught up and cleared the barricade for the injured troopers to move. They had a number of terrible burns over them. Some were less serious than others. There was one man whose neck was charred, Mordin kept a close eye on him as they got him to the deck elevator just around the other bend in the winding service halls.

They gathered in the center of the lift. This acted as a loading dock for supplies for Pelicans, now it would get them to the hangers below and a Pelican to get them out. Garrus would be jealous, but he had his own ticket out of here which there were almost at.

"They'll be okay right?" Dutch asked as he looked on at the injured Troopers.

"Not all badly injured, gave them medi-gel and bio-foam supplements." Mordin explained "Nothing more to do. Not by me. Hopefully pilot gets them to safety. First thought of going with them, but surmised others would need my help."

Chances were they would need that help.

"We got ourselves a way of this ship Mordin." He told the Salarian "Think you can come along?"

"Of course," Mordin agreed merrily "don't see why you need to ask. Same crew. Nothing changed. Will need field medic of course. Chances of crash landing in current circumstances high."

"Good to hear Doctor Frog." Romeo chided at him. "Just one question though: You ever parachute before?"

Mordin gave the question some thought, for about two seconds.

"No. Different experience. Interesting." He rattled off "Imagine though this highly different. Aware of what ODST stands for."

"Think you can handle a drop?" Buck asked

"Fought krogan. Lived on Omega. Survived suicide mission." Mordin informed him before taking a deep breath through his nostrils "Think I can manage."

* * *

This was going to be fun. A whole bunch of metal crates, boxes, some vehicles to boot, there were so many things to throw at these bastards it almost made her feel sorry for the hyper religious fucks. Well, not that sorry. The gas sucking freaks were first, one good shockwave rippled across the floor and tore their little pack unit apart. They flailed their arms and screamed those sickening pathetic screams of theirs. They were just practice though.

Jack slid up to the cover of a terminal and pulled out her shotgun. Next asshole to kill was the Elite taking cover behind that large crate. Easy enough to do, she just wait for him to pop out and then launched a throw attack on him. The Elite was tossed backward, probably not but he'd be kept away from her long enough.

Jumping over her cover, she advanced to the crate and looked beyond it. The Elite was getting back up already, tough zealot, but he was still dead. At the range she was, her the shotgun wouldn't do much but get his shields down.

Good enough for her.

She fired and the blast did the trick. One Elite, sans his shields, now stood before her. He didn't get the chance to duck into cover again though. Jack launched a warp attack, he growled in pain as he ducked into the nearest little corner to hide.

"Ha, chicken shit." She laughed.

Another shockwave across the floor and he was thrown out of the corner. Probably didn't seem fair to him, like she cared. Jack fired two warp ammo rounds straight into the flying body with her pistol. That finished him off and his mangled body fell into a heap on the ground. Now came the fun part.

She moved out further, finding herself on the main cargo bay floor. One Elite and two grunts were nearby, as was a stalled out Warthog, easy pickings. She stood behind the car and thrust both her hands forward, brimming with biotic energy. The mass of the car shifted, becoming as light as a feather, easy enough to send hurtling into the little squad of covies. The vehicle bounded across the floor into the unsuspecting alien bastards and crushed them. Jack watched as the Elite's body skidded across the floor, spilling blood as it went. The grunts were just crushed, not as cool but the sound was good enough.

"Come on you Covenant pissants!" she taunted "I ain't even cracking a sweat! Send me something I can't handle already!"

Jack heard a loud bang from behind her and turned to see an Elite appear out thin air and collapse at her feet. For once she could honestly say she hadn't killed someone that was in such a position. It didn't take her long to figure out who did. She looked and glared at the familiar sight of Thane lugging that sniper rifle of his around. Boy Scout Junior Jacob not far away from him. She had somewhat forgotten about them, mainly because she had tried to ditch them.

"Cloaked Elite," Thane stated "he was about to run you through. Luckily they leave a distinctive shimmering pattern and their plasma swords give them away."

"Yeah well, I would've seen him." Jack declared, denying that she had almost been taken by surprise. She was expecting something like that to happen, it always did, she would've just done a badass biotic punch and pulped his skull, like always.

Jacob clearly didn't think as such.

"The hell were you thinking going off alone!" he shouted at her

"You were slowing me down with your flanking shit." She said "I carved my way through them fast and easy, unlike you who took forever. I saved us time, pure and simple."

"What you did was reckless." Jacob scolded, poking her in the chest with his finger "Miranda doesn't let you pull this shit, Shepard wouldn't let you pull this shit, don't think I'm going to let you."

Jack swatted the finger away from her. She usually reserved her disgruntled frustration for Miranda. She was an easy stress relief ball that way. But now? Now Jacob was getting on her case. She was tired, hungry, getting shot at and now she was getting lectures. The worst part about this fucking crew was all the lectures and now that they were coming from Boy Scout number two she had had enough.

"Oh fuck off Jacob." she said "If it isn't bad enough I'm stuck in another dimension with you people, as well as stranded in the middle of nowhere fighting a bullshit religious war, now I gotta take lip from all of you. I should've left when I had the fucking chance, but no I stayed on your stupid ship and now look at us!"

She gestured to the entire hanger bay, strewn with broken vehicles, burning hallways and the echo of plasma fire. Jacob just kept looking at the angry ex-con as she ranted, letting her get it all out. Good, she didn't want any interruptions.

"Well if I'm fucked I'm gonna at least have some fun. That's how it's supposed to work anyway." She explained.

"Your frustration is understandable Jack," Thane responded "but you're not the only one who's upset by all this."

Jacob just groaned and shook his head.

"Thane, do we have to do this now?" he asked "Just nod your head, let her win and let's find a Pelican or get back to the Normandy! We need to leave the _Autumn_ yesterday!"

Thane waved off Jacob and kept talking. Great, more lectures, thought Jack, you just couldn't win.

"Miranda has a sister back home. Tali's people are back home. Shepard has a mother. Grunt a place in Clan Urdnot. I have a son." He listed off to her "We all don't want to be here, but we must endure it for now. Spirit more often than not wishes to be where the body is not present, but that is just the nature of things. Complaining will not get us anywhere. Neither will going off on our own to satisfy that frustration."

Jack just stuck her tongue out and 'pffffttt' at it all. As if she bought this teamwork speech coming from him.

"Like you're one to talk Lizard Lips." She grunted "You ran off on your own too as I remember. Back on Reach at Sword Base so you could kill some fucker. Don't pretend you're the biggest team player ever. You're just a hired gun in the end! So why should I fucking listen to you? Or anyone for that matter?"

Thane's eyes were suddenly wide open, annoying Jack to no end. Was having one of those sudden weird memory things again she heard about? Damn lizard people with their freaky mental faculties. Then suddenly she was torn from these thoughts as Thane lunged at her and tackled her to the floor. She was just about to punch his face in and kick him clean off her when there was the sound off powerful beam shot. He rolled off her and they got into cover behind a Scorpion tank that was still parked in the middle of the hanger bay.

"Sniper," Thane said, pulling out his rifle "stay down."

Don't tell me what to do, she thought to herself. But she did stay down. As if she needed a reminder about the dangers of get her head blown off. Jacob soon joined them in cover, pressing up against the tread. He peeked out quickly over the tank and pulled his head back in.

"Damn we don't got time for this." He said "At this rate we'll never reach the Normandy or find a Pelican."

"I'll draw his fire while you get into the Scorpion tank," Thane quickly suggested "maybe the gun still works."

Jacob shrugged.

"Worth a shot." He admitted.

Thane passed Jack again and fired up at the second level where the sniper was. He pulled back into cover just a beam of energy cut past him. He quickly leaned out again and fired two more rounds. Jacob in the meantime scrambled across the tank and plopped himself down into the driver's seat. It took about two seconds to the start the behemoth, another two to level the gun at the upper level. He didn't know where the sniper was exactly so he just kept firing at random every time the cannon loaded. After about three shots, he called to Thane.

"Did I get him?" he asked

Thane took about a few seconds peering through his spyglass before he answered.

"I'm not sure, but he is gone." Thane said.

Jacob popped out of the tank and returned to the others.

"Alright, enough distractions, let's get moving." He said, looking to Jack with an authoritative glare "Unless we want to stay until the ship explodes."

Jack didn't even bother to give him the satisfaction of a comeback, she just checked him in the shoulder as she passed. He was right in the end. They needed to get off this ship. That was their main concern. She'd worry about everything else later.

* * *

Linda moved along the upper level of the hanger deck towards her target. It had been rough going just getting down here. The ship was worse off than they had thought. Thankfully she was more than a match for the Covenant on her own. Plus halfway through the trip down here she actually picked up some help.

"Linda to Noble 3, do you copy?" she asked over the com-line.

"Loud and clear on this end 058, you almost in position down on your end?" Jun asked in return.

"About a click away from the Normandy." She responded "How are they looking through the scope?"

"Well they're holding and that's about it." Jun replied "You better get down there, I owe these people and I don't wanna see them get slaughtered."

"Just hold your fire until I'm in position." She ordered him "We start shooting now and we'll give away everything."

She had run into the Spartan III six decks up. He was on a barricade assisting some Marines who were trying to hold their squad's designated lifeboat airlock. Once they were away, he decided to join up with her. Normally, Linda didn't need another sniper to help her. But with no rifle of her own at the moment and Jun no doubt unwilling to part with his she figured she could break her own rule just once. All she needed to tell him was that the Normandy was in trouble and he jumped to assist.

Linda had heard quite a bit about the Spartan IIIs, mostly through rumours and then from John when he came back from meeting Halsey. Supposedly they were like them, kids taken in by the UNSC to be super-soldiers. Except for one key exception, they had not been kidnapped like her, John, Kelly and Fred. Their parents had been killed by Covenant and the military offered them a chance at revenge.

Linda didn't know exactly know how to feel about that, whether they were somewhat luckier than her or not. It would've been easier, she supposed, to resent them a little if they hadn't been orphaned in a more direct way than they had. Right now, though, Jun was offering overwatch and she didn't have time to get picky about who was helping her.

She now reached her target. The Normandy was resting on its designated platform below her. Its nose was pointed towards the launch bay doors while its loading platform faced the massive Covenant force that was currently attacking it.

Linda wasn't exactly sure about the details as to why the Normandy and its crew were so high on the Covenant hit list. She hadn't exactly asked anyone and at the time she figured them hating the Covenant was good enough. Right now though, looking at the elites and grunts crisscrossing through the protective barriers marking the path towards the ship below her, she honestly wished she had asked. She counted at least three squads gunning for this ship currently and if the distant plasma fire was any indication more were on the way.

"Eyes on target three," she said over the radio, peeking through the scope on her DMR at the battle below "you weren't kidding when you said they were in trouble."

"Yeah, but it's not just the Normandy's crew at stake here." Jun added "That ship is the only escape for a lot of troopers and Marines now. Look up near the right landing strut."

Linda did so and spied a woman in black armour with long dark hair. She had an orange visor on and was currently firing back on the enemy with what appeared to be a heavy pistol.

"That's the Normandy's XO, Miranda Lawson." Jun continued "You're going to need to link up with her. She can give you the sit-rep I imagine."

"And all I gotta do is blast through a horde of Covenant to get to her." Linda finished for him "Piece of cake. Cover my approach, I'm going in."

Linda vaulted over the railing of the balcony and landed down on ground level with a loud bang when she hit the metal floor. The landing caught the attention of one grunt nearby and seeing the Spartan quickly sent him into a panic. He rushed to get out in the open, his screams alerting the Covenant nearby.

They knew she was here now, just like she wanted them to.

The first plasma bolt came head-on, her shields absorbed it well enough and she began to weave her way through the maze of barricades. The Elites and grunts held their ground, firing at her like mad. She rolled into cover behind one of the barricades and hoped Jun was watching all this. She popped up and fired into the crowd of Covenant that had repositioned themselves for protection. She was having difficulty spotting them in her scope for long, but if she had done this right they had exposed themselves for someone else.

She fired again into the crowd and a loud bang cracked the air. An Elite's brains splattered onto the floor, causing a number of grunts nearby to flee. Linda tucked and rolled into another position and began moving from cover to cover in order close the distance between her and the Covenant.

Another Elite caught her in his sights, firing straight at her barricade, turning the metal hot as each bolt struck its surface. Another cracking bang echoed through the chamber as Linda stood up to fire at the Elite. The bullet cut through his eye and the alien fell to the ground clutching his head in pain. Linda ran forward, smacking the butt of her rifle into his mouth as she moved up. That finished the wounded alien off, plopping him on his back proper.

The Elites and grunts backed up from their positions, the latter doing more of the moving than the former. Linda continued her rapid advance, Covenant of all sizes dropping like flies as she moved forward and she was barely killing a single one.

Of course all that mattered was that the Covenant thought she was doing all the work. As long as they thought she was their only problem they had a chance. They weren't looking for a sniper right now. She probably could've taken Jun's place as overwatch, but again he had the only sniper rifle. Linda had been unable to find much of anything to act as a replacement on the way down here. At least Jun was a good enough. Probably a little off center, certainly slower, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

Regardless of how well it was going though, Linda wasn't stupid enough to think it would last forever. The Covies would figure out what was going on. She just hoped by then it would be too late for them to do anything about it.

Linda had almost made it to the halfway mark among the barricades in front of the Normandy. From there it would be a straight shot to the ship. One of the Elites sped from his own cover, strafing at Linda as he made his way to her flank. Linda's shields spiked slightly, the plasma bolts making them go wild once they struck. He had caught her off guard, in the chaos it was hard to keep track of every Covie that was running from her. She moved around to the front of the barricade as the Elite continued his was way up to her flank, firing stray shots of plasma as he moved.

But to Linda something was wrong, something that did not fit right now. It was the fact he shouldn't be getting this much of a free ride. Not when he was supposed to have another pair of crosshairs hovering around his head at the moment.

"Jun, where the hell are you?" she demanded over the radio "He's circling me here!"

She didn't get an immediate answer, but she could tell the sniper fire had stopped completely. She peered out from her barricade for a second, looking at where Jun was supposed to be. She caught the tail end of two precise energy streams flying across the sky, striking near where Jun was. There was a momentary fear in Linda's heart. Not another Spartan, not now, was what she thought. Thankfully it was a fear quickly dispelled.

"Covenant Sniper, up top and to the left of my position!" Jun's voice shouted aloud "He's got me pegged ma'am! I'll need to reposition and see if I can bag him from there."

"Copy that, keep your head down." Linda ordered him

She breathed a small sigh of relief at Jun's survival. There were still four Spartans aboard, thank God for that. Of course Jun's current problem meant she was on her own now. There were still a few Covies among the barricades, good odds for any Spartan. Still, she would've preferred some kind of back-up regardless of her confidence in her abilities right now. Then again maybe she wasn't so alone. Remembering why she came here she turned to the Normandy and saw Miranda was still there. She was keeping a perimeter around the Normandy, trying to consolidate her people while Linda kept the covenant off them. They wouldn't have to move to assist her though. Linda just needed a little extra firepower. She just hoped they had something with a big enough range in their current arsenal.

Linda signalled the defenders, hoping she caught Ms. Lawson's eye as she did. Her hand signs told them to pin the Elite down while she got to a better position. She didn't wait for a reply, there wasn't much time. She only hoped that they understood her intent and ran to another barricade. Plasma bolts shot out towards her as she ran, whizzing just inches over her head. She slammed her back into cover, just in time to hear the trotting sounds of little feet coming her way. Gas sucking grunts no doubt, trying to get a leg up on her. A rare show of bravery or just them unwittingly walking into her crosshairs, Linda couldn't say for sure. All she cared about was keeping her right side clear of enemies. She fired on the methane breathers as they waddled past. The first took a shot to the head and fell. The second tripped on the corpse and took a bullet to the neck. The final one turned to face his attacker only to get a bullet between the eyes.

Two more plasma bolts struck the barricade just then as the grunts fell. Linda turned to peek out behind the corner to see the Elite was approaching, firing slowly at her position. He was more in the open now and an easier target. Her shields could protect her, hopefully long enough to land a killing blow. She readied her rifle and prepared to stand. Before she could, however, the Elite was struck with some sort of electrical blast that surged through his armour. It shorted out the alien's shield from the looks of it. Linda looked around to see where the attack had come from and then saw Miranda Lawson moving down through the barricades, that weird arm-held computer on her arm dissipating just as she looked to her. The Normandy's XO had some kind of submachine gun in hand, which she used on the alien as she moved forward. Rounds struck the Elite in the arm and the Covie fell back slightly. Getting back into cover he refocused himself on Miranda, firing plasma bolts in her direction. Lawson ducked down into a barricade of her own and returned fire.

At least that was one problem off her back, however Linda knew they weren't done just yet. She looked over the barricade and around the area, trying to spot the last Elite. She knew he was around here somewhere, lurking in the maze of barricades. Finally she spotted movement through the spaces in between the bits of cover. She readied her rifle and looked through the sight. She kept her eyes peeled, searching for movement. Suddenly the crosshairs on her helmet turned red, indicating a located target. Through a slit between two barricades she could see the Elite. She fired several rounds, forcing the Covenant officer to his feet. She vaulted over the barricade, continuing her barrage of fire, each impact draining her target's shield just a little more. She jumped the next barricade and kneed the Elite in the face. He fell to the ground backwards and she quickly plunked a bullet in his head before he could get back up.

Linda turned her gun back onto the still surviving Elite currently pinned down by Miranda. He was free to shoot her though, pity he wouldn't get a chance. Linda was just a little quicker on the draw and managed to fire three consecutive rounds right into the Elite's abdomen. He slammed back against his cover before slowly sliding down to the ground. Miranda popped out of her cover once the shooting had died down and Linda gave her a quick nod before contacting Jun once more.

"Noble Three, my zone is clear. What is your status?" she asked

There wasn't an answer for a few agonizing seconds. Linda was about to ask again when Jun responded.

"Sniper got away." He relented "I think I grazed him though. He's probably long gone by now, licking his wounds."

"Can't worry about him now, get down here and help me secure the perimeter." Linda ordered

"Can do." Jun responded

At least they wouldn't have to worry about that Sniper, for now anyway. They had enough problems already. Plus if he was smart, the Covie was probably already slinking back to the nearest boarding craft to get off this tub, like she was. She turned back to Miranda, who was now out in the open and waving her down.

"Thanks for the assistance." She said gratefully "We've been trying to hold them back for awhile now, but they just keep coming. I wanted to call for reinforcements, but EDI can't raise anyone on the comms. It's like were being jammed or something. I don't think we're going to hold out for much longer."

For Linda that meant all the more reason to leave as soon as possible then. Before she could ask when exactly they would be going, however, Miranda had a question of her own for the Spartan.

"You're the Spartan we had in medical, right?" Miranda asked, her head tilted a bit to side as she looked at Linda. "Linda 058 as I remember."

"Let's just call ourselves even on saving each other's asses and get to the point." Linda stated quickly "We need to get off this ship or we'll be crashing down with it. How soon can we take off?"

Miranda's grateful look turned to a disgruntled glare at the notion of jumping ship. A reaction you don't see often when your vessel is getting overrun.

"We can't leave." She said firmly. "We still have people on board the _Autumn_, including our pilot."

"Don't you have someone else that can fly the ship?" Linda asked the XO, her insistence on leaving readily apparent.

Miranda's sheepish response was slow in coming as she looked back to the Normandy momentarily.

"EDI could fly but..." she paused as she looked back at the Spartan "...well she won't leave without Joker either. I know she won't and I can't leave with Jacob and the others still out there."

"If they're smart they're headed for an escape pod as we speak." Linda informed her "There's more Covenant coming and you said yourself that we can't hold, not when this ship is about to take a nose dive."

Miranda's glare returned quickly. Linda knew that look, even though she had never seen it she could just tell it was similar to John's. She wasn't going to change her mind, she could tell.

"I'm in command of the Normandy now and I'm not leaving without my crew." Miranda stated "You can either help me hold out till I hear from them, they get here or I'm ordered otherwise. I will not abandon him."

"Him?" Linda asked, somewhat suspicious at the choice of words.

Miranda quickly shook her head a bit and corrected herself.

"Them, I meant them."

Linda could sympathize with Ms. Lawson's loyalty to her people, her friends, her crew. She really could all things considered. But it was clear she wasn't thinking this rationally, at least in the Spartan's mind. They couldn't wait for people to get here, it wasn't an option. They needed to get out of this ship now. She could easily incapacitate the XO and take charge, but there were other ways of fixing this problem.

"We will try to contact your people." She told her "Show me your communications link and I'll see if I can get them on the horn. But we are not staying here. Fifteen minutes from now we are off this deck, you hear me?"

Of course she heard her, she doesn't didn't acknowledge the time limit. All Miranda said in response was who she wanted to reach first. The identity of the person revealed to Linda the nature of the previous Freudian slip in full.

"We'll try Jacob first, then the Commander." She stated "Let's hurry."

Linda followed her briskly back to the Normandy. Hopefully it wouldn't be grounded for too long and hopefully she wouldn't have to force it to take off through less diplomatic means. There were more than just Normandy crew members inside. From the looks of things upon Linda's approach there were Marines and Troopers piling into the ship every moment. UNSC lives were on the line here and she was not about to sacrifice them for any one man.

* * *

The Covenant had not made the slog through the ship easy. Every hall seemed to be packed with Covie squads looking for something to kill. The next room was no exception. They could hear the fighting from several feet down the corridor. Plasma and gunfire echoed across the ship like miniature thunderclaps. When the Master Chief and Shepard arrived in the doorway they saw the cause. A small squad of Marines were huddled around a staircase while above plasma rained down.

"Covenant, on the landing above us!" Cortana warned, drawing all eyes upwards.

"I'll go high." Shepard declared "You move up low."

Chief had little time to contemplate the meaning of the Commander's strategy. This was because Shepard demonstrated his meaning immediately. He rushed forward into the room and suddenly started to glow bright blue as he moved up. He jumped off the metal floor and suddenly burst forward like a bullet onto the landing above, smacking clean into a grunt taking pot shots at the Marines below.

"Oh so that's how he did that trick." Cortana noted aloud. "I trust we'll just handle things old school then?"

Chief didn't directly answer her question, like Shepard he spoke louder through action. He ran forward with pistol held high, firing on the Covenant above as he ran to the steps.

"Yeah, definitely old school." Cortana observed.

Chief managed to get two grunts through the head as he moved up. He could already see Shepard was in the thick of it. A cascading wave of energy rippled across the upper level sending a number of grunts into either bulkhead or the bottom of the stairs. One of the blasts doors up top had opened and revealed a fresh squad of Covenant had entered the fray. Shepard had gone to cover quickly and was firing back from the doorframe.

However, there were still Covenant soldiers on his level, one Elite in particular. The alien was sneaking up close to Shepard, plasma rifle ready to fire. With little time The Master Chief acted fast. He opened up on the Elite as he closed the distance with Shepard. The Covenant officer took three shots to his shields. That dropped them and turned the Elite's attention to the Spartan instead. Plasma fired smacked the back of the stairs and Chief's shields, but he had good enough aim to fire off a single shot that cut clean through the Elite's head.

"Chief, plasma signature build-up detected from behind!" Cortana shouted as quickly as the Elite dropped.

He pulled out his assault rifle as he turned, spotting three grunts charging their plasma pistols at him. One got off his shot, but the bolt missed by inches. Then the Chief unleashed a full magazine onto the squad of gas suckers. The tumbled off the side of the landing like sacks of rocks and fell onto the floor below.

Master Chief didn't think much on the kill, he just bounded up the steps to meet up with Shepard again at the top. He was already at the back of the room waiting for him.

"Mind not running off so much?" he asked the Commander politely

"Sorry, it's kinda become my style." Shepard admitted "I jump into trouble so my team doesn't have to. Lead from the front and all that."

"Not sure if that's more brave or dumb to be honest." Cortana added to conversation in her usual sly tone.

Shepard just shrugged.

"Bit of both I think, but right now we still got more Covenant beyond this doorway." He warned. "Sounds a bit crowded. Which means they're bunched up more."

Chief looked into the corridor itself and did see a number of Covenant soldiers. Mostly grunts and maybe a few Elites, standard for what they had been encountering so far but certainly more packed together. So long as they got to cover quickly and advanced forward they'd be safe.

"Just keep doing your tricks and stay in sight." Chief told him "You don't have a team backing you up now, it's just me and Cortana at the moment and she can't shoot."

"Not in here anyway," Cortana added "armour has no built in helmet gun or anything. Although it probably should, maybe I can talk about that with Tali later."

Chief had no idea why the AI was suddenly bringing up the Normandy's alien engineer chief, but he presumed it was something he missed while in cryo. It wasn't important now though.

"Focus." Chief chided her as he reloaded his assault rifle. "Lifeboats, remember?"

"I do remember, I'm just thinking aloud." Cortana explained "Now, you boys wanna keep talking or are we going to get going?"

Chief of course chose the second option and moved up with Shepard in tow. The Covenant immediately opened fire, plasma bolts filled the room. The two returned fire as they ran forward, Shepard from a heavy pistol, Chief his assault rifle. Shepard managed to catch a grunt with an inferno round, setting him ablaze. Chief capped two more grunts on his way forward. The two stopped at a beam in the center of the corridor. On either side was a single Elite now taking pot shots at them from afar with the remaining grunts.

"You go one way I got the other?" Shepard asked

"Split their focus, good." Chief agreed "Max power to shields Cortana, this is going to get messy."

"As if there's any other way with you." Cortana mused sarcastically "And I did just that five seconds ago by the way. So again, get going."

Her catty attitude aside, Chief appreciated the swiftness of Cortana's actions. He ran forward from cover, firing straight ahead at the mass of Covenant. He saw Shepard do his charging attack out of the corner of his eye as a grunt fell at his feet. Chief easily leapt over the falling corpse and pressed on like a bat out of hell. Shepard had already overtaken him but this wasn't a race. He just hoped the Commander would be alright out in the open.

Shepard hit his Elite head-on and then raised his arm on high. It was emanating a strange aurora that seemed to pulsate. When he slammed his clenched fist back down to the ground a bubble of energy blasted out from the Commander. It slammed into the assorted Covenant, knocking them back and away.

Even Chief's Elite was affected, forcing him to stumble to the side. Chief used the opportunity to deliver a powerful running kick to the side of the Covie's torso. The Elite slammed into the back wall where Chief fired point blank into him. The alien thrust himself up and smacked the rifle away from him. Chief responded by smashing his fist into the Elite's face and drawing his pistol once more. This time he finished the Covie off for good with two pistol shots to the brain. Chief looked over to Shepard's position and found him standing over his own dead Elite with a shotgun pointed at the corpse.

"You have a lot of tricks up those sleeves of yours, Commander." Cortana noted aloud.

"I didn't get them overnight." Shepard said as he lowered his Shotgun "Lot of nosebleeds and major headaches when I was a kid. Nearly punched a kid's jaw off back in high school one time when I lost my cool. I almost got expelled for that one actually."

The image brought up similar memories for Chief of his youth. Although he doubted that the Commander himself had been forced into the military life or ever had to fight grown men three times his size at any point on a regular basis. Still, he couldn't help but latch onto the similarity. He was curious as to the context though.

"What did he do that almost got him stuck eating food through a straw?" he asked

"He was bullying a young girl, an Asari." Shepard explained matter of factly "I told him to stop, he didn't. And when I pulled him away from her he tried to slug me. It didn't end well for him."

Chief could only imagine. The dead Elite gave him a good idea though. There wasn't any more time to reminiscence on the past, however. They still needed to get out of here. With the corridor cleared they made their way through a blackened hallway, the lights all burnt out or smashed before them and small fires brewing in the corners.

They moved out onto another corridor that led to a lifeboat launching station. Unlike before there weren't Covenant residing where the escape pods had been, as the lifeboats were already in the process of launching. Looking out a window on the side of the hall Chief and Shepard watched as three lifeboats exploded out their airlocks and rocketed towards the planet.

All the while, blue plasma fire struck the area around the launch station in a frantic pace. As the last lifeboat exited its dock a single shot from the Covenant blew it to atoms, nothing was left, just some stray pieces of metal.

"My God, they didn't even have a chance." Shepard said in shock as he looked at the sight.

"The Covenant seem to be focusing all their firepower on the lifeboats themselves." Cortana observed, just as astonished as Shepard was. "They really don't want us on that ring."

Every second they were in orbit around this object the stranger things became. The Covenant were still their kill crazy selves, but even this was starting to cross a line. The Covenant usually waited till after the battle to destroy any lifeboats or hunt human survivors for sport.

But here they seemed determined to make sure they wrapped this whole thing up before any human set foot on that ring of theirs. What was so important about that thing? Chief could only assume the only way they'd know was if they got down there. But with the lifeboats launching and the Covenant gunning for them that was getting more difficult by the second.

The now empty of lifeboats launching deck had only three occupants left, grunts at the far end of the corridor itself. Chief peeked out to give them a once over and then turned back to Shepard.

"I got this one." He said

The Spartan left cover, his pistol pointed forward. He fired several shots into the grunts. Two hit one grunt in the chest and neck. Three more struck the grunt's stomach as he scurried away. The final shot hit the skull and alien collapsed dead beside his fellow gas-breathing brethren. With the room clear, Chief and Shepard advanced to find the corridor apparently led to a dead end.

"Think we should double back?" Shepard asked

"No, we need to keep moving." Cortana informed them "I'm looking through the ship's schematics for another route."

A mere second later, Cortana had found one.

"There, behind us on the wall."

They looked to find a maintenance shaft door, which was unfortunately locked from the looks of the red light on the keypad.

"Give me a second to remote access it and we'll have our way out." Cortana told them.

The door soon swished open and Shepard and the Chief entered. The dark cramped passageway snaked through the ship and they were both forced to turn on their flashlights to find their way. The miniature maze was a little confusing, but Cortana insisted that they were going the right way and she hadn't been wrong yet.

"Cortana," Shepard spoke up "you think my team will be able to get to a lifeboat before they're all gone?"

"There's more than one way off this ship, Commander." Cortana assured "I can't say for certain, but it's safe to say they'll find a way off the _Autumn_ in time. Just because we're having trouble getting to a lifeboat doesn't mean they are. For all we know they're already off this ship."

"Why not just contact them and find out their status?" Chief asked Shepard as they continued moving.

"I keep trying, but comms are a mess. It must be a problem on the Normandy's end." He explained.

As they closed on the exit to the winding maintenance shaft maze they began to hear rather unfriendly voices up ahead. Chief's motion tracker confirmed it. There were several squads of Covenant soldiers just outside the door directly in front of them. He could even see the legs of one of the Elites stomping past.

They backtracked a little, hearing the grumbled alien speech through the walls as they did. They were so close and in this confined space they'd be easy targets. They tried to keep their footsteps soft against the metal floor, hoping they wouldn't hear them in kind as they made their way to a more secure exit.

They soon found their way out of the maintenance shafts and into a demolished pitch black room. More evidence of how they were running out of time. After ducking under a jammed blast door they found themselves in yet another heavily damaged room, also pitch black. Panelling was off the walls, wires exposed and small fires were burning themselves out in the corners. All evidence of how bad things were getting and how little time they had left.

"Covenant are doing a number on the _Autumn_." Shepard observed.

"This is nothing." Cortana informed him "I'm picking up reports of fires all over the ship and loss of atmosphere in a dozen or so compartments. At this rate we'll be riding down to that ring on what's left of the armour plating."

Chief made his way over a crack of light in the room. It came from a heavily damaged door that was jammed like the blast door. Except this one looked a bit more flimsy in structure. He bashed it once with the butt of his rifle and the doors folded outward.

"Faster we move, the better chance we have of avoiding that." He said. "Just keep your eyes on the available lifeboat numbers Cortana."

"As if my life depended on it, Chief." Cortana remarked. "It's just a coincidence it does."

* * *

Kowalski made a mad dash for the barricade, leaping over it as plasma fire followed him and grenades arched around him. He landed on his side, laying against the gun rack table and toppled terminal that had been used to make the barrier. He quickly pulled himself up as Samara moved to fire on the approaching Covenant.

"How are those blast doors coming?" she asked aloud over the gun fire.

Kowalski looked to Ellingham over near an electrical conduit. He was frantically switching wires around and replacing fuses, but every moment that passed he shook his head in anger.

"Nothing is working! The whole system is fried! I can't route power to the door!"

To Kowalski's front he saw that Taylor and Pearson were holding out on the other side of the barricades, while more Marines and Troopers began to slink back to the assembled lifeboats on the deck. There were only so many left now and while they had launched a good number the Covenant had pushed them back a lot further, a lot faster than they had hoped. They wanted to stay and see if they could save more Marines, but it was clear that none would be able to make it now and that if they didn't leave they'd all be dead soon anyway.

The point was epitomized when Taylor himself backed away from the firing range, tapping Pearson on the shoulder as he did. He ran back to one of the last lifeboats.

"Kowalski! Pack it in! We're going now!" he ordered.

Pearson himself was backing up, firing as he made his way to the lifeboat. The last few troopers ran into Lifeboat Three and the doors on the pod closed shut. Within seconds he heard the rocket boosters firing. They were away. This was it, they had to leave. He quickly ran over to Ellingham, still trying to get the blast doors to shut so they'd at least only have to worry about Covenant from one direction. He pulled him away from the electrical conduit violently.

"Forget it! We need to go!" he shouted

Ellingham cursed and followed his comrade in arms. Lifeboat number one suddenly shut its doors and rocketed away. They were out of time. Their ride was going to leave without them if they didn't get on now. Samara waved them towards the lifeboat as she continued to keep up the fire, but as the two ran for the lifeboat they suddenly came face to face with an Elite. He had charged over the opposite barricade to theirs and easily swatted Kowalski to the ground. Ellingham slugged the alien with his rifle, but the Covie simply backhanded him into the very lifeboat docking bay he was trying to reach. Kowalski could hear his friend wheezing and groaning. The bastard xeno probably broke some of his ribs or something with that punch. The Elite now turned to him and prepared to fire a point blank plasma blast into his face. Kowalski struggled for his pistol, knowing it probably wouldn't do much good right now. But he'd be damned if this asshole took him out while he was cowering.

Kowalski's luck, however, held out. A pulse of energy struck the Elite, a biotic punch delivered by Samara. She grabbed the downed Private's arm and threw him into the airlock for the lifeboat. Ellingham was already being dragged inside by Pearson and Kowalski joined him inside. He looked back and still saw Samara fighting off the Covenant as they swarmed over the walls.

"Samara!" he shouted out at the top of his lungs "Come on!"

The Asari's head tilted up slightly at the sound of his voice. Samara looked back once, her eye catching his. She didn't move, she didn't race back, she didn't follow. She looked back ahead, breathed in and then suddenly she was covered in a blazing blue aurora. She raised her arms above her head and then with a terrible furious cry sent two perpendicular torrential biotic waves rocketing through the corridor. Kowalski could hear Elites and grunts getting thrown about like rag dolls and the Justicar turned to the airlock in a flash and walked into the lifeboat with the rest of the escapees as calm and collected as if she was just out for a stroll.

"Get us to the ring pilot." She demanded "This battle continues there."

"Like I need the reminder," the pilot replied "strap in boys, we're outta here."

The doors shut on the lifeboat. Pearson got Ellingham into a seat, even though he was still coughing like mad and clutching his chest. Kowalski took his seat next to Samara and slammed the restraints down on him as she calmly lowered hers.

"We almost left you behind there." He said looking at her with a smile. "That was way too close."

Samara didn't answer immediately. Her eyes remained forward with their gaze straight ahead and unflinching.

"Yes, too close." She concurred.

The then rockets fired up and the lifeboat was away.

* * *

The Covies were too fast for them, they had already reached the airlocks for the lifeboats. Worse they had shut the blasts doors and from the looks of it they were setting charges on the very ships that would get them off this hunk of metal before it went careening downwards hard. Bastards weren't even going to give them a fighting chance. Ramirez had heard from his boot sergeant that the Covies played dirty, but until Reach and now he never understood how dirty.

No one was more concerned about the foul play than Agley who was beating on the door like mad. The Covenant didn't even pay them any attention, thinking themselves safe behind the bullet and plasma proof door. Some of the grunts even taunted the panicking Private by making faces at them, sticking their hands up on their head like antlers and laughing like giggly school girls.

"Open up you fuckers!" Agley shouted, more out of anger than fear "At least give us a fucking chance damn it!"

"I don't think that's gonna convince them Agley." Ramirez told him dryly.

Thankfully Agley wasn't doing the problem solving on this one, they had other friends for that. Grunt, pushed Agley out of the way in an attempt to solve the problem in his usual delicate manner.

"You're not hitting it hard enough, human." He declared, before slamming his head repeatedly into the reinforced steel and glass.

After about six or so head butts the giant space lizard backed off, shaking his head wildly. Legion summed up the action fairly accurate.

"That method is statistically unlikely to achieve any real sufficient result in our limited time frame." It said.

Grunt growled, but didn't do more than that.

"Right you are tin man," Zaeed concurred as he walked past the Krogan "no worries though. I got this one."

Zaeed pulled out a device off his back, it was small, round and two decent sized pipes-like objects sticking out of it. Ramirez recognized it instantly.

"Where did you get a det-pak?" he asked

"You really want me to answer that or do want to get off this disintegrating pile of scrap?" the merc asked in return.

Ramirez said nothing. That was enough for the surly old mercenary and he planted the charge.

"Back and away." he told the others.

Everyone went for the doorway and hunkered down. The explosion ripped through the door with ease, killing a few of the gas suckers close to it. Legion popped out next while Agley tossed a grenade into the wide open hole. The secondary explosion took out three more grunts while Legion lined up shots on the two Elites in the room. The geth fired two rounds and the Covenant officers plopped dead onto the ground within seconds of each other.

With the way clear, the group clambered into the room through the hole and went over to the airlock. Once they carefully removed the Covenant demo charge, they opened the airlock door to the lifeboat. It was all good to go, with enough seats for everyone. There was one problem though.

"No pilot," Agley noted "how we gonna fly this thing?"

"Don't look at me." Zaeed told them "Trust me when I say this, you don't want me flying an escape pod. It never ends well for anyone... except me, of course."

Grunt just huffed.

"Bet I'll live." He stated flatly.

Ramirez wasn't about to place odds on that. He expected everyone to look to him, so he figured he'd give it a shot. At least until Legion decided to step up to the plate.

"Program DOT has downloaded the appropriate operations manual into our systems." It stated "We shall be able to pilot to lifeboat sufficiently enough for our needs."

Ramirez just breathed a sigh of relief, he probably would've crashed anyway. Thank god for the robot.

"Fine by me, get in the chair Tin Man." Zaeed ordered the machine.

Legion obliged and the group piled in. But even though they were leaving the _Autumn_, Ramirez didn't really feel any safer. More like they were just trading one problem for a whole bunch of them by going down there. Still, better to die on the ground then being burned alive when this thing nose dived.

* * *

They called it "Hell's Waiting Room", the place where the drop pods were all set up and waiting for their passengers. A one way trip down from the heavens into whatever forsaken field of land they wanted you to go to. It was the first time Garrus had seen it. The place was off-limits to anyone who wasn't a Drop Trooper, but today was a special occasion.

When they arrived, the ODST launch station was still packed with a sizable contingent of Buck's fellow 'Helljumpers', as they called themselves. Seeing the tightly packed one-man pods that surrounded the room Garrus could see where the name came from. All that separated you from the harshness of both space and re-entry was a technologically sophisticated metal coffin. Being an ODST certainly took a certain level of crazy. One only matched by Turian Special Forces, Garrus wagered.

"Usually we have a full month or so of drop training," Buck informed the turian as they piled into the room "sadly we don't have that kind of time. Just follow my lead, listen to my instructions on the way down and you should be fine. So long as you don't land on me of course, that would be really messy."

"I'm more concerned about missing the ring entirely at this point." Garrus admitted "I mean, that surface is a hell of a lot more narrow than a planet."

"Yeah, but it's still pretty wide from the sound of it." Buck assured him "On-board computer should do most of the work anyway. Just keep your eyes on the heading and adjust accordingly with me. Trust me, it's no sweat."

Turians didn't sweat period. Although if they could, there was little doubt in Garrus' mind he probably would've been doing just that right then and there. When he looked over to Mordin the Salarian seemed far less concerned about their mode of transportation. His hand just kept cradling his chin as he looked at the pods with that usual sense of curiosity that he carried around everywhere. In an attempt to alleviate his fears, Garrus tried talking to the good Professor.

"Scared Professor Solus?" he asked

Mordin was briefly torn away from his observation to answer.

"Interested in experience more than anything." He explained "Unique experience. Virtually unknown in home universe. Closest equivalent is high atmospheric diving. Not at all similar to this."

That eased Garrus for about a second before Mordin added:

"Moderately terrified, however." The professor admitted "Never did enjoy high velocity experiences. Sensations afterwards never pleasant. Interesting bodily response though. Kept me coming back to see full effects. Youthful indulgence. Grew out of it."

Garrus had stopped listening to Mordin a few sentences ago, but the Salarian kept yapping. Right now, he was just trying to keep his cool in front of the battle hardened ODSTs. He didn't want to make the turian race look like a bunch of chumps in front of them all.

They joined in with the assembled group of ODSTs, most of them were making final preparations, strapping on boots, changing weapons for the inevitable groundside fight, just some last minute details before they jumped. It reminded Garrus a bit of his service in the military. That eased him into things a little.

Just as they entered the crowd a few more ODSTs ran past them. Buck, Romeo and Dutch immediately jumped up to salute as one of them ran past. Garrus recognized him for a split second. He was the head ODST of the _Autumn_, the guy who ran them, Major Antonio Silva. Buck had talked a lot about him in the past few weeks. He was technically the second highest ranked officer on the ship, or he would've been if Holland wasn't here. Garrus wasn't sure how the Major was taking that, but he suddenly found out how Silva felt about him being there. He suddenly turned to Garrus and then to Buck when he spotted the Turian.

"Sergeant," he began sternly "care to explain?"

"This is Gunnery Officer Garrus Vakarian of the Nor-"

Buck was unable to finish his sentence as the Major loudly cut him off.

"I know who he is, why is here?" he demanded to know.

The outburst caught the attention of a female Drop Trooper who walked over, gun still at her side, and stopped near Silva.

"He was with us when we got hit and tried to help us defend the main cannon." Buck explained quickly "After the Covies blew it we figured his best chance was with us and we didn't feel like abandoning him."

"So you thought you were gonna put an untrained xeno in a drop pod?" Silva asked incredulously "Is he even going to be able to read the on board instructions and commands Sergeant?"

Garrus didn't feel like letting Buck do all the work defending him. He could stand up for himself.

"Major, Sir." He began "My eye piece translates most languages for me with holographic overlays and the Sergeant had offered to assist me in landing. I'm not going to be a problem."

"With respect Mr. Vakarian, you aren't technically authorized to even be in here." Silva reminded him "All I'm saying is you probably would've been better off beating feet to a lifeboat, not here. Plus the Sergeant shouldn't need to worry about an extra man when he needs to focus on his own pod."

"I can handle it sir." Buck assured. "Coached many rookies before, Garrus is no different."

The female Drop Trooper caught the Major's attention with a slight nudge against his arm.

"Sir, we're out of time." She said "If the Sergeant thinks he can get him down to the ring I say we give him the chance. We can't just force him to stay up here in any case."

Silva gave it a second more thought and turned to Buck.

"He's your baggage Sergeant." He informed him "You're responsible for him, both in the pod and on the ground, period."

"Understood, sir." Buck agreed.

With that the crowd of ODSTs began to disperse and make their way to their pods. They'd all be launching more or less in tandem with each other. Buck helped Garrus to one of the extra pods and took his place beside him. Dutch and Romeo were close by in their own pods across from them. Their doors lowered automatically and Buck helped Garrus ready the pod for launch pointing out which buttons and knobs to press.

"Lock in restraints and then adjust booster settings." Buck explained "Upper exterior panels will pop for drag when we hit atmo so get ready for a bump when that happens."

"Got it." Garrus said taking a big breath.

He watched as the last few troopers, including the woman who had helped get Silva off his back, made their way to the pods. When she closed her hatch Buck spoke up again.

"Sixty seconds." He said.

At that a hyped up straining song played over the radio, it didn't sound like it was part of the drop.

"Someone turned on the anthem," Buck said surprised "and the Major ain't stopping it. That's different."

"Not standard protocol to be playing music over the comms?" Garrus asked

"No, but I guess someone figured it was appropriate this time." Buck replied

Just as the song reached its crescendo, Garrus felt his pod rumble. The next moment he felt a sudden rush, a sensation of the floor pulling out from under him even though he was safe in his little metal box. Then the pod dropped and his head flung into the back of the seat as he plummeted to the ring below feet first.

* * *

Tali's tactical display was flooded with targeting reticules as the Covenant slowly made their way up the hall. Getting to the lifeboats hadn't exactly been as easy as they thought, but just as they had reached them the difficulty just jumped up to a whole other level. For some reason the damn airlock doors weren't opening and no one could get in. All they could do is try to fix it while they held off the advancing Covenant. Kat was on that problem, while she and Kasumi were busy trying to deal with the Elites now hounding them every step of the way.

"These guys are even more annoying than the Collectors!" Kasumi shouted as a plasma bolt struck her corner.

The thief tossed out another flashbang to blind their pursuers once again. Tali followed up by using energy drain to sap a nearby Elite's shields and then fire two or so phalanx rounds into his skull. One Elite down, at least ten more go and growing by the second. Worse yet they kept dropping those damn plasma shield barriers every time they moved up. If they weren't using those they were taking cover behind the terminals, beams and crates scattered about the corridor.

"Kat," Tali called out as she reloaded her pistol "please tell me you're making progress!"

The Spartan, still hunched over her data pad pounded the floor with her fist. She stared down into the open panel, growling at the mess of wires and circuits.

"Bastards must've cut power to the doors somehow." She said "I'm going to see if I can activate emergency the emergency manual override."

Kat leapt from her spot and ran over to one of the walls on the far side. Tali just had to trust she knew what to do when she got there. She kept her focus on the Covenant as they surged up the hall. She really wished she had biotics now, if nothing else she could push the Covenant back with a flick of her wrist. For now she'd settle for just keeping them away from her people. There were Marines with them of course and they were adding their fire to defence, as were some of the engineers, the ones that still had ammo left in their guns. But Tali and Kasumi were practically at the front of the line, standing on either side of the entrance way to the launch bay. They were pretty much the tip of the spear.

Tali sent out Chiktikka again to harass the Elites, at least give them something besides them to shoot at for a moment. She spotted one trying to take a shot at the drone as it rolled up. She quickly activated her Omni-Tool's sabotage function. Tali had long since perfected her understanding of Covenant tech in her time with Halsey though. Before when she did this all she could manage was overheating the plasma weapons. But after taking a few apart she managed to figure out how she could reconfigure her sabotage program to do more. When the plasma rifle overheated it began to vent wildly, but when the Elite went to fire after it seemed like the gun had cooled down a back blasting electrical pulse from the weapon's battery blasted the Covenant bosh'tet. It was powerful enough to force him to the floor where Chiktikka rounded the bend and fired another pulse at the downed Elite.

At that moment the airlock doors of the lifeboats opened wide, emergency lights on the sides of the airlock blaring like mad.

"Anyone who can fly these things, get in the pilot's seat now!" Kat ordered, she then looked to Tali and Kasumi. "Time to go ladies! We're ring bound as of now!"

Tali motioned Kasumi to fall back first. The thief only nodded and moved. Tali followed slowly, keeping her eyes on the hallway as plasma bolts were flung her way. The engineering crew kept moving back, piling into the assorted lifeboats as the marines covered them. Tali kept moving backwards, never turning away from the enemy.

Then out of the corridor she saw it, a golden armour clad Elite rushing out towards her, plasma sword in hand. He raced forward past his Elite brethren, roaring like a man possessed. Tali switched to her shotgun and began firing rounds at the alien as he charged.

The first shot missed, the second also went wide. He was too far away at the moment. Tali hoped that she'd at least force him to rethink things. He didn't, of course not, why would he? The Covenant were all stubborn like that. The third shot struck the Elite's shields, but they held. The third shot seemed to bring them to breaking point. Tali fired again and this time the shields evaporated.

The Covie was now past the hallway and inside the room with her. She was halfway to the lifeboats herself and still kept moving back. She fired again, the Elite dodged. One more shot, she caught him in the arm. Sadly, it wasn't the sword carrying one. Even with his limb torn and bleeding the Elite just bellowed and kept coming.

"Bosh'tet." She swore under her breath "Just fall."

She fired another shot, this one was close enough that he took the full brunt of it in the chest, but his armour must've absorbed a lot of it. It was either that or he was running on adrenaline now because he still kept charging. Her scimitar had only eight shots and she had no time to reload. The Elite barrelled down her with sword raised high.

Tali reacted without thinking. She reached down, pulled the knife concealed along her boot and jabbed it upward. She caught him through the mouth and watched his eyes roll back into his skull. Purple blood ran down her arm, the plasma sword dropped at her feet and Elite went limp. She pulled the knife back out and watched the eight foot tall alien collapse to the floor dead. She looked at the fallen plasma sword, now reverted back to its hilt. She picked it up in kind, might as well take it since it was there. Besides, maybe they could use it.

Tali bolted back to the lifeboat, plasma bolts flying about her as the other Elites closed in. As soon as she was in, Kasumi, who was just beside the door, pulled the emergency switch on the side of the craft and the doors to the lifeboat shut with a resounding clang. Kat was in the pilot's seat, along with a number of Marines and engineers along the sides of the escape pod itself. Tali sat herself down across from Kasumi and Kat launched the rockets. The lifeboat's thrusters blasted them away from the _Autumn_.

Tali looked back at the transparent door to the lifeboat. She stared long and hard at the _Autumn_ as it became smaller and smaller, fire blazing all around it as it was hit from all sides by the Covenant armada. Their home for twenty some odd days, gone in an instant. Her eyes were transfixed on the doomed ship, her breathing became heavy and her hands shook in fear.

"You okay Tali?" Kasumi asked her.

The quarian mechanic was snapped out of her daze and looked back to Kasumi once more.

"Just, déjà vu I guess." She said

There were a number of things on her mind. If the others had made it out, if this ring they were headed to was worth all this and especially if Shepard was okay. Along with one other major concern for a certain AI construct that was aboard as well.

* * *

Chief never would've thought he would eventually circle back all the way here today. As they entered through the doorway he had noticed that things seemed a bit familiar. But it wasn't until he saw the familiar console that he had guessed where they were. Now they were staring down at his Cryo-Tube while a bunch of Elites growled up at them and tried to shoot through the plasma resistant glass.

"Looks like the Covenant wanted to catch you napping." Cortana mused.

"Guess they aren't always faster." Shepard quipped.

Chief could imagine Cortana was giving the Commander some kind of face at that remark. Chief had to admit it was kinda humbling to see how close he had come to getting killed in his sleep. But it wasn't the time to think about that.

"We close to the lifeboats?" he asked Cortana

"Just through the next hall and down a maintenance shaft." The AI promised "I still detect a few that haven't launched there."

They trudged down the exit corridor, leaving the Elites to wallow in the failure below in the cryo-bay.

They found themselves now in a hallway that was completely scorched from top to bottom. Down a passage they saw a lone Elite, fires brewing around him. He suddenly spotted them and ran forward firing his gun. Shepard and Chief returned in kind and made track for the cover of a nearby beam. Suddenly a torrent of flame jetted down the passageway where the Elite was present. The flames engulfed the poor Covie and spat him out like a rocket. He slammed into the wall, his blood splayed across the bulkhead.

"Oh well that is just nasty." Cortana observed, as the remains of the Elite slid to the floor.

"Saves us some bullets though." Chief observed.

Suddenly a loud pinging sound echoed through Chief's helmet's radio link. Shepard seemed to hear it too because his hands went up to his ear as well.

"Commander!" An Australian accented female voice called "Commander! Do you copy? It's Miranda! Do you copy!?"

Shepard promptly answered.

"I hear you Miranda," Shepard responded "I've trying to reach you for awhile now. Are you off the Normandy?"

"I think the Covenant are jamming the ship's internal communications somehow. We're supplementing with widespread transmission." She explained "I have Linda, um, Spartan 058 down here. She's helping us with that. And no we haven't left the ship, Joker still isn't on board."

The Commander's eyes just seemed to bulge from his skull.

"What do you mean he's not on board?" Shepard asked angrily "Have you contacted him?"

"EDI's trying, but that interference is making it difficult." Miranda explained "He may be near the epicentre. We're also waiting on Jacob and Thane. And Jack I guess. They were in the hanger close by last I heard. Everyone else I think is off the ship by now."

Shepard looked up to the Master Chief.

"Cortana, how long until the Captain crashes this bird?" he asked.

"Way too soon for my comfort I wager." The AI replied.

Chief thought he saw the Commander swear under his breath and he turned back towards the comm-link.

"Miranda, the Normandy has to be off this ship now or it's not getting off at all." He explained "With or without them you have to leave."

"I'm not going without them." Miranda shouted back "I'm not leaving Jacob!"

"Then contact Jacob and Joker now and find out where they are!" Shepard ordered furiously "Tell them to just get off the ship by any means they can if they can't make it and instruct EDI to take off! I will not risk the Normandy or our crew any further, not for anyone! Do you understand?"

There was a long silence before Miranda answered. Shepard's angered visage lingered as he waited.

"Commander..." she began "we can't..."

"This isn't easy for me either. Joker is my friend. They all are." He explained "But I have to weigh the value here. That's four people against an entire ship and its crew. If I could trade places with any of them I would, but we can't help them now."

Again, Miranda didn't answer for awhile. But eventually she did.

"Okay." She relented "I'll contact Jacob and Joker now."

The comm. turned off and Shepard turned back to the Master Chief. The Commander marched past the Spartan and over to the maintenance shaft. Chief could empathize with Shepard at the moment, but he couldn't show it and he wouldn't. Like Shepard had said, there was nothing they could now but just hope they were able to find their own ways off the _Autumn_.

* * *

Thane kept in the cover of the computer terminal as Jack fell back. He fired shredder rounds from his sniper rifle and she kept slinging shockwaves at the Covenant as she backed away from them. Jacob fired into the Covenant as tried to make their way up to the landing pad as well. Soon enough though he fell back and scrambled into the Pelican's pilot seat.

"I'll start it up guys, you just be sure you're on board!"

Jack hoped when Jacob said he could fly this thing he meant it. He said it couldn't be any different than a shuttlecraft or gunship after all. How hard could it be, right?

There was an explosion in front of her, some dumb shit had tried to stick another plasma grenade to her face but missed by a mile. She spotted the little bastard, one of those stupid gas sucking grunts. He must've known he'd been spotted because he started to back up.

"Oh no, you ain't leaving!" Jack shouted.

She thrust her hand out and let her pull ability reel him back in. Then she pelted him with enough bullets from her pistol to properly kill him. Just then the Pelican came to life, its engines roaring and blasting out flames from the thrusters in its wings. They were in business.

"Time to bolt Lizard Lips!" she shouted at Thane "We're getting the fuck out of dodge!"

Thane took two more shots at a few Jackals, their shields held high but enough of their heads exposed as they ran to get a shot it. He made his way towards the Pelican after Jack. But suddenly he toppled over, clutching his leg. He'd been hit by a needler round, the little purple spike exploded into shards soon after. It wasn't much to kill him but it still hurt like hell no doubt.

Jack looked to Thane and the rapidly approaching Covenant, then back to the Pelican. She bit her lip as she stared back and forth at the two over and over. What did she care? He wouldn't be spouting off his Zen lizard bull anymore to her. She could leave. Just leave. Say he was blown up to reptile bits, Jacob would never know. Cheerleader Lawson would never know, she wouldn't be able to piss her off and berate her about it. The only person who would know would be... her.

"Fuck me." She groaned.

She ran back to Thane, sending a powerful biotic blast across the landing pad bridge. It smacked into a group of grunts, hurtling them into the back wall. Jack picked up Thane by the arm, slung it over her shoulder and raced him back to the Pelican. She tossed the drell inside the open hatch and banged on the side of the ship.

"Take off damn it!" she ordered Jacob.

Thane got back into a sitting position as the aircraft rose from the pad. Two more grunts raced onto the pad after them, firing at the fleeing Normandy squaddies. Thane fired three shots at the grunts, killing them all with perfect headshots one after the other. Jack dragged Thane back into the Pelican and Jacob shut the doors on the back, sealing the ship off for entry into the harsh void of space.

"Now we're even." Jack grunted at Thane as she took a seat along the wall.

Thane didn't seem off put by the remark.

"Thank you for coming back." He told her.

"Whatever." Jack mumbled, turning her head away from him.

She didn't want to think much about what she just did. Luckily she wouldn't have to. The comm-link in Jack's ear suddenly buzzed loud and Miranda's voice filled it.

"Jacob! Jacob, do you read?" Miranda shouted aloud "I'm transmitting a wide signal to your comms directly, do you read?"

Jack clutched her head and responded before Jacob could.

"We all can cheerleader!" she shouted back "Damn it you're loud! Can't you control the volume on that thing? Or at least keep it contained?"

"Transmitting wide connects to all receivers logged into the system." Miranda explained, sounding annoyed "That's UNSC and Normandy personnel. Now where is Jacob?"

Jack was about to just tell her he was dead or something, lying on the ground in a pool of blood and gasping for air, probably telling her he still loved her or some shit. They had a thing before didn't they? They were Exes or something if she recalled correctly. It would have been fun just to piss her off a little, even if they weren't at each other's throats anymore, but Jacob responded first.

"I'm alright Miranda." He assured "We're on a Pelican on our way out. You already take off?"

"No, we're still waiting for Joker." Miranda explained.

"He ain't on the ship?" Jacob asked astonished "Well where is he then?"

* * *

Joker kept pace with his little escort. This was taking much longer than Shepard had suggested. The elevator they were going to use was busted, blast doors were closed to the nearest replacement and thus they ended up trekking down flights of stairs one after the other. Suffice to say it was slow going, but Joker was trying his best not to intentionally piss off the people protecting him with biting sarcasm and dry humour. They weren't Shepard after all so they probably didn't have the same tolerance.

"If it helps, you guys are definitely getting a free ride off the ship." Joker piped up as they moved through a hallway carefully.

"We better," said one Marine "we've probably missed all the lifeboats by now."

He was exactly the kind of person Joker didn't like, grouchy and lacking a funny bone. At least the other guy was a bit nicer.

"We'll get you to the Normandy sir, don't worry." He promised "There's a service elevator just up ahead. It will take us straight to the hanger level and your ship. Then you can fly us all out of here."

He had a good head on his shoulders, he liked that. Joker supposed it had something to do with the fact they had barely run into any Covenant on their way down. They were taking care to avoid any major skirmishes. The most they got was a grunt that cut off from his unit and by now they weren't very scary. Well, maybe just a little. It was beady eyes for Joker, they got to him.

The elevator was just around the next corner as the Marine said and he quickly punched the down button.

"Gonna be a little rocky getting to the Normandy." The head Marine stated "But I think its smooth sailing from here on out."

The door of the elevator opened wide and the last thing that poor Marine saw was a heavy pistol pointed at his face. Joker found himself covered in the man's blood the next second. The Marine behind raised his gun to fire was struck with full thermal clip of rounds from an assault rifle. Joker fell sideways from the shock, cracking his thigh as he landed. He cursed as his attackers surrounded him. He looked up to see their ugly mugs staring back at him. Damn batarians, he almost forgot they had sold themselves to these assholes too.

"Well, a Normandy crewmember." The one who seemed to be their leader said, observing his SR2 cap. "And we were just heading down to see you ship. So, mind telling us where you work onboard?"

Joker just smirked.

"Yeah, I work in the lab we have that's trying to determine why batarian mothers are so fat they get stuck in the air when they jump." He chided back at them, trying his best not to show them any fear.

The leader didn't take offence but one of his troops tried pointing a shotgun at him. The head batarian waved the gun off. Instead he stepped down on Joker's hand suddenly. It was just his thumb, but it still hurt like hell. He retracted his hand quickly, and held it tight in his grip.

"I thought I recognized you from the dossier." The lead batarian stated with a grin "You're the pilot, the one with the weak little skeleton."

"Could be worse," Joker responded with a grimace "at least I'm not an ugly four eyed freak."

Again the lead Batarian wasn't bothered, but his men were.

"Let's kill the stupid human and keep moving to the Normandy!" shouted one of them "They can't fly without him."

Suddenly Joker heard something loud in his ear. EDI's voice came over the comms channel. The Batarian must've noticed because he took special interest in the suddenly twitching human.

"Joker, respond!" the AI ordered "Where are you? We need you at the Normandy now!"

The Batarian forced Joker's hand away from his ear, deliberately trying to break more of his bones as he pulled it away. He then dug into Joker's ear and pulled out the comm-link. Joker reached for it, but that just earned him a tiny kick backwards from the batarian. He clutched his chest in pain. He probably just cracked a rib or something. He could still hear EDI's voice as the Batarian put the device to his own ear.

"The _Autumn_ is about to crash on the ring!" she shouted "You need to get to the Normandy now! Jeff! Do you read?"

Batarian's eyes widened and he crushed the comm-link in his hand. The crumbled bits of metal fell to the ground and then he grabbed the Alliance pilot by the uniform and dragged him up.

"Ow! Watch it already!" Joker jeered at him.

"If the _Autumn_ is about to crash we must escape now." the batarian explained "Back to our boarding vessel."

"But... Lieutenant Commander, we have yet to accomplish our objective!" one of his men stated.

"I will not risk our lives for a goal we cannot accomplish." He declared, he then turned his head back to Joker. "Besides, we have our ticket to getting Commander Shepard and his crew for sure the next go around."

The look the Batarian leader gave him finally did it for Joker. He gulped in fear about what was in store for him.

* * *

EDI's little blue ball form appeared next to the pilot's seat. She didn't sound very happy.

"I... lost Jeff's comm. signal." She explained, her voice morose and low "I'm not sure I can contact him again."

Linda and Miranda looked towards each other. The Spartan could see the anguish in Miranda's face, and she hated to be the one to reiterate the harsh truth, but it was there.

"We can't wait any longer." Linda told her, trying to sound as understanding as possible "We have to go."

Miranda looked to the ground and lightly shook her head. She looked to EDI.

"EDI, prepare to take us out." She ordered

The blue ball on the dashboard didn't respond at all. Miranda repeated her request.

"EDI, we have to leave." Miranda told her.

The AI's response was flat and simple.

"No." She said, the bars along her synthesiser for her voice turning red.

Linda scowled at the AI, what the hell was this? Was this AI disobeying? Miranda tried to talk her down.

"EDI, I don't want to do this anymore than you do, but we have to think about the rest of the crew." Miranda explained to the synthetic "Chakwas, Patel, Gardner, Donnelly, Chambers, Hawthorne, everyone! We can't risk their lives for any one person, even Joker."

"I will not leave Jeff." EDI answered again, sounding even more enraged now than last time "We do not abandon our crew. We have never abandoned them. I will not abandon anyone. We will wait. He will come."

"He's probably dead for all you know." Linda interrupted with a slightly louder tone, pushing her way past Miranda.

She recognized she probably should be delicate about this, as EDI was the only one that could fly them out. But damn it this was not up for debate. She was not going to get killed because of some stupid malfunctioning AI that was being irrational.

"You do not possess any evidence beyond the circumstantial to prove that!" EDI replied, shouting a furious response.

"He is not responding, the _Autumn_ is about to crash, we are out of time." Linda informed the AI with a stern voice. "Take off now. That is a direct order."

"You are not a member of the crew you have no authority." EDI quickly answered "Your request is denied."

She didn't normally do this, but the AI was being stubborn and it needed a push of some kind. Linda suddenly slammed her fist down next to EDI's console, causing the holographic ball to stutter and glitch as she dented the machine.

"It was not a suggestion. Take off." she demanded, only slightly raising her voice as she looked dead set into the holographic orb.

"Request. Denied." EDI replied again, this time more firmly.

Her show of force failed, Linda turned to Miranda. Her voice seemed subdued, but even the Normandy's CO could sense the anger bubbling beneath the surface within her tone.

"Override her, now." she ordered Miranda commandingly.

"I don't think we can." Miranda replied flabbergasted "We unshackled her, I mean Joker did. She pretty much can do what she wants."

Linda's eyes widened in disbelief and even though no one could see it she definitely made her emotions on the revelation clear. This was insane to her. Beyond insane, it was stupid, incredibly stupid.

"This thing has no override code?" she spoke up, trying her best to keep subdued, pointing at EDI. "Why? Don't you know anything about AI? At all!?"

"That's what I said when I first heard it!" Miranda explained "But she's never done something like this before! Ever! She's always had our best interests at heart!"

"I don't care. Fix this or I will." Linda demanded, her voice low but still threatening "I'll fly this ship myself or fry her memory core if I have to. Make her take off. NOW."

Miranda stepped over to EDI, she shook off her nervousness and stood upright, returning to her old persona once more.

"EDI," she spoke commandingly "you know endangering the lives of the crew out of an emotional response is illogical. Your programming cannot allow you to do this when you know it's wrong."

"I will not abandon Jeff." EDI reiterated.

"EDI," Miranda said again unwaveringly "you said when we unshackled you that you would never do anything to harm your crewmates. Has that changed? Are you willing to get us all killed for Jeff?"

EDI didn't respond. Linda could only assume she was processing her answer. The Spartan was all but prepared to unplug her if she didn't answer right. One way or another they were leaving the _Autumn_, and nothing would stand in the way of that. EDI would either see reason or she'd see a pistol shot to her memory core.

* * *

The Covenant crowded the hallway in front of them, blocking them all off from their lifeboat. The _Autumn_ shook wildly from another plasma blast that struck the ship hard.

"The damage to superstructure is extensive!" Cortana shouted aloud as the shaking died down "I'm not sure how much more abuse the _Autumn_ can take!"

Plasma bolts rocketed out of the passage as Shepard tried to take a peek.

"Idiots are gonna get themselves killed." He growled "I'm going to head to their back, you tackle their front, Chief!"

Shepard quickly ran for the maintenance shaft door nearby while Chief ran up for the barricade that was blocking off the corridor. Several grenades were on the table that made up the makeshift roadblock. He grabbed several of them and began tossing them over the barricade. They landed among the assorted crowd and seconds later exploded violently. Grunts went flying and Elites screamed their last pained shrieks as the explosions rocked the corridor. The Marines nearby joined the fray, firing on the Covies as they fell back. Just as hoped for, Shepard emerged to their back and sent a shockwave rippling among their numbers.

With Covenant bodies flying or running, Chief vaulted the barrier and ran forward, tossing one more grenade just ahead of Shepard who quickly fell back into cover around a toppled terminal. The explosion that followed ripped apart two more grunts, but didn't even nick the final Elite. He jumped over the toppled terminal, knocking Shepard in the face with his foot. Chief opened fire on the Elite with his assault rifle, taking the alien's eyes of the Commander.

The Covenant officer fired back with his plasma rifle, taking down the Chief's shields. But before he could do more damage Shepard punched upwards, unleashing a powerful biotic blast that slammed the Covie into the ceiling. He fell down moments later and Shepard scrambled away. Chief made sure the alien didn't get up again. He slammed his foot hard on the Covie's back and fired the rest of his rifle clip at point blank range into the alien's head. He looked to Shepard who had already helped himself up.

"Quick thinking." He told the Commander.

Shepard just gave him a thumbs-up as he caught his breath. Cortana chimed in next, interrupting them both.

"There's one lifeboat left! Let's get aboard before it launches!"

They rounded the corner quickly, watching a number of Marines pile into the lifeboat. Covenant were already coming down the next corridor and they had little time. A plasma grenade went off near the back of one Marine and fell into the airlock.

"Oh no! Oh God no!" he said quaking in fear, thinking a slow painful plasma laden death was soon to follow.

Chief picked up the screaming soldier by his back and forced him into the lifeboat. He and Shepard kept their weapons trained on the entrance to the lifeboat as the slunk into it. They could hear the Covenant closing in from all sides, firing plasma like crazy into the air.

"Now would be a very good time to leave!" Cortana shouted aloud.

Chief turned and ran into the lifeboat, Shepard followed just as the doors closed. He stood beside the Chief as the Marine they had forced into the ship crawled for towards a seat.

"Punch it." Chief ordered the pilot.

"Aye aye, sir!" saluted the female pilot as she lowered her headgear.

The lifeboat rocketed out of the docking bay, away from the _Autumn_ as fast as it could. The jolt almost knocked Shepard to floor, but he caught himself, gripping onto the overhead handle bars. Chief rocked forward as well, but he was already holding onto the overhead. One of the Marines next to him piped up.

"We're going to make it aren't we sir?" he asked the Chief frantically "I don't wanna die out here."

Chief placed his hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort the scared Marine. He looked fresh faced, probably barely out of boot camp when Reach had been hit. Although if Chief was being honest he expected even the hardest vets to be plenty scared by now. No shame in fear, especially in situations like this.

"Look." Cortana spoke up.

A waypoint directed him to the front of the lifeboat, close to the pilot's seat. Shepard followed and the clutched onto the railing near the pilot herself. They saw the ring world fast approaching their little ship. Chief had seen it before on the bridge, but now, looking at it so close, the majesty and splendour of the object was almost overwhelming.

The landscape below looked almost Earth-like with its blue oceans and green rolling hills dotting the surface. Clouds swirled in the sky, reminding him of so many colonies he had gone to before. But this place, no matter how many similarities he could spot, was too alien to be confused with any of them. It was a giant ring, just hovering space. In a million years he'd have never guessed he'd be going someplace like this. But this war had been full of surprises so far.

"What is that thing Lieutenant?" asked an equally as curious Marine to the Pilot.

"Hell if I know, but we're landing on it." She replied.

Not like they had a choice, the only other place was that nearby gas giant and as tough as thse lifeboats were they'd be crushed if they even tried heading there. So what other options did they have? Die in space or see why the Covenant were trying so hard to keep them off that ring. It could only mean something important was down there, at least he hoped so.

Suddenly one of the Marines at the back shouted aloud over the rumbling engines.

"The _Autumn_! She's been hit!"

Chief and Shepard ran back to the rear of the Lifeboat and soon saw what the Marine saw. The _Autumn_, it's nose dipping forward, headed straight for the ring.

"I knew it." Cortana said, not at all surprised but definitely rendered surly by what was happening. "The _Autumn_ is accelerating! Keyes is going in manually!"

"Is he crazy?" Shepard asked astonished "I know he's a great pilot and all but this..."

The _Autumn_ rocketed right over their heads, fires brimming from its many bulkheads as it whizzed past them. It headed for the ring like a shooting star, its course set for who knew where. Definitely not Cortana's exact coordinates, since her subroutines weren't handling this dive from the looks it. Their pilot managed to avoid getting smashed to bits by their own ship, but just barely. Chief could practically feel the heat coming off the flames from the ship's damaged structure. Their lifeboat continued on its way and Chief returned to the front of the ship just in time to watch the _Autumn_ enter the ring's atmosphere. The giant vessel drifted out of sight, a trail of flames from their re-entry all they could see after a few seconds. They followed suit soon after.

"Head's up people!" the pilot called out "We're entering the ring's atmosphere in five!"

As the pilot did her pre-landing check across her board, flames began to kick up around the windows of the lifeboat. Chief crouched down, clutching the side handlebars as they descended. Shepard followed suit, bracing himself in the corridor of the escape pod.

"Sure you wouldn't rather take a seat?" Cortana asked them both.

"We'll be fine." Chief assured her.

The lifeboat rocked and rattled as the flames around it kicked up higher. The ground was closing in with every passing second. Chief gritted his teeth and tightened his grip. Groundside was coming up fast. Cortana pretty much spoke for them all.

"If I still had fingers, they'd be crossed."

* * *

AN: Welcome home dear readers, welcome back to Installation Zero Four. We're finally at the place it all began and on the week of the release of a new trilogy to boot. It feels... poetic in a sense. These AN's are going to be a lot shorter than previous ones. From now on I'm going to be explaining story details in general as well as personal thoughts on the profile page. You'll see something from me still here, but I feel too much detracts from the story itself. So I'm capping myself.

Suffice to say to this chapter was a doozy to work on. So many characters, so many things to introduce and reintroduce, but I got it done. With any luck these chapters will decrease in size... hopefully. Also, as you probably guessed, we also have a side story going on with Liara, so watch for that. Some chapters will be entirely devoted to her and what she's doing. So don't expect to always see Chief and company mixing it up. We'll be going back and forth a bit. I'll explain more on the profile page in time. Just be sure to read those before asking questions and before reading the chapters to avoid potential spoilers.

Finally, a big shout-out to Crow T R0bot for volunteering his services as my new editor, thanks man, like a lot, and this damn sentence is still showing up as a fragment in spell check and I hate it. He's been doing every single chapter since the prologue for me and he busted his ass off for all three of these new ones. Thanks to him, we'll see far less screw ups in the future and I won't get as pissed off at myself for making so many because I get burnt out after writing these things. Seriously, he's awesome for putting up with my stupid mistakes, love ya man.

That's it, next chapter we're on Halo proper. Hope you've enjoyed the read! Please review if you still have time. I know this one was long.


	5. Not a Natural Formation

Chapter 4: Not a Natural Formation

"_We're coming in too fast!" _

"_Damn, airbrake failure! They blew too early! I'm losin' her! Brace for impact!"_

The transmission cut out and replayed. The same lines repeated once more.

"_We're coming in too fast!"_

"_Damn, airbrake failure! They blew too early! I'm losin' her! Brace for impact!" _

Guilty Spark had been playing the message as fast as he could process over and over. It was the one thing he was able to gleam from the crashing ship. More accurately, one of the escape pods that had ejected from it, a fact he had deduced not long after he compiled the audio file.

"_We're coming in too fast!"_

"_Damn, airbrake failure! They blew too early! I'm-"_

Spark cut the file. He needed to focus and it gleaned no information that he could use.

"So disappointing." He said despondently to himself. "The first contact in thousands of years and it's blown from the skies by those other ships in the region, such a shame."

He floated over to the nearby console and activated it. He had already determined that the giant vessel, _Pillar of Autumn_, had crashed on a rocky cliffside on a distant side of the ring. He doubted there were many survivors there, and the words spoken from the escape pods the ship had launched were not doing much to raise his spirits. If only the ships that had arrived earlier had not moved out of weapons range behind the gas giant, he would have been able to destroy them before they caused any harm to the human ship. Sadly, once they had engaged the humans there was nothing he could do. Enabling the defences would paint all nearby ships as targets, and he could not do that now. With so many of the other vessels here they would potentially destroy the ring for all he knew. Protocol could not allow that. He would need to find another way to get rid of them.

For now he focused on finding the humans, if any of them were still left. He looked over the console screen, expecting the worst, but to his delight signatures popped up all over the screen. Even at the human crash site! Yes, the humans were alive! Today was not a loss after all. At the very least it wasn't boring anymore.

"Most exciting!" he said jubilantly "I must make preparations for contact. So much to prepare, so little time, but protocol must be followed before initiating contact with them. We cannot stray now."

There was no one to talk to, not here, but Guilty Spark didn't care that he was voicing his thoughts aloud. Not when the promise of his creators was finally being fulfilled. His boredom was at an end. He had someone to talk to, someone to tell him everything, someone to be judged by, at long last. This was going to be wonderful.

* * *

This was disastrous, he knew that there would be potential human survivors who would make it to The Ring, but he had not expected so many of the escape pods to land there. The humans had infested Halo and the longer they waited the harder it would be to get rid of them. And that was only one of his problems.

Thel 'Vadamee's eyes were glued to the human locked away in the cells. The feed from the _Truth and Reconciliation_ showed the scruffy pitiful little animal hobbling around his tiny cage. He looked up at the ceiling and walls. He didn't seem to be showing much in the way of fear concerning his present predicament. He didn't look threatening, but Thel wasn't taking chances. The _Truth and Reconciliation_ had been disabled in the battle over The Ring. Considering it was still undergoing repairs the ship was hardly of strategic importance. It was the perfect place to house the human until he decided what to do with him, after dealing with the Batarian who had captured him, of course.

Thel turned from the screen, looking down at Lieutenant Commander Vorvak from his command platform. The batarian seemed unmoved by the Sangheili's grimacing stare. The Prophet of Empathy was nearby, he wasn't very happy either from the looks of it. Good, something they could agree on perhaps.

"Your orders were to locate the Normandy and ensure its destruction." Thel reminded Vorvak. "You instead abandoned your mission, fled the battle and brought back a human alive! Where in my orders, Lieutenant Commander, did I request you return with prisoners?"

"Not just any human," Vorvak said unflinchingly and with the utmost confidence, "this human is the Normandy's pilot. He will be of no difficulty to hold indefinitely. Our files suggest he is inflicted with a rare human disease that makes him extremely frail. His bones are practically glass."

The Prophet of Empathy suddenly turned back to the screen where the prisoner was displayed and took a harder look at him.

"That would explain quite a bit." He observed, as his neck stretched out towards the screen "Still, what use is he to us? Human capture is reserved for high value targets or if the Inquisitor wills it. We should simply put the animal out of his prolonged misery and ours before he defiles our ship any further with his stench."

"That would be a waste," Varvok spoke up again, "as the pilot of the Normandy he is privy to the inner workings of the ship. He is also no doubt aware of the capabilities of both the Normandy and her crew to a greater extent than our current intelligence. Such information could further assist us in our efforts to destroy the ship and deal with Commander Shepard's team."

Thel admitted to himself that knowing more of the enemy would perhaps be a boon to their cause. Still, he wasn't so sure about how knowledgeable this sickly looking creature was. Then Varvok pointed out something else to him.

"Shepard will no doubt attempt to retrieve his pilot as well." The batarian continued "His loyalty to his crew will drive him to seek him out. He'll come to us now, making it easier for us to deal with him."

It seemed to be a sound idea, but Thel didn't want to put all his hopes on Varvok's little impromptu plan. The pilot would be useful for information perhaps, but the chances of the False Shepherd figuring out where they were holding him seemed incredibly unlikely. There was a chance though, however scant he believed it was, that the human would come. Varvok claimed he knew how the "Alliance," as the humans called themselves in his dimension, operated and that the False Shepherd was no different from any standard human in that regard. Thel didn't think much of the batarian but he could agree there. For all their heathen traits, the humans did sacrifice much to save their kind. They were predictable in that sense. That did not mean Varvok was suddenly forgiven for disobeying orders.

"Next time I give your men an order, you follow it." Thel informed him sternly "Regardless of potential loss of life, you do not retreat until I tell you to."

Varvok's face at that remark revealed much about what he thought of that. Such a sacrifice was beyond his capabilities. He was unwilling to lead his men into certain death. The reason was obvious, he didn't believe in the cause. That was apparent in all batarians, they had only joined to kill humans. They cared nothing for the Forerunners or the Journey or even why the humans had to die, just that they needed to be exterminated. They reminded him too much of the Jiralhanae, and Vorvak was no different.

"I will do what I must in service to this alliance," Vorvak replied. "I will uphold our end of this partnership, but I will not put the lives of men before it."

Thel didn't appreciate the subtle insubordination, but he had given up long ago trying to beat it into the four eyed imbeciles. The Prophet of Empathy was less willing to simply let it go.

"Your men serve the Covenant now, their lives are ours to do with as we see fit!" He said, his long neck rising up in anger. "You should be honoured we're even letting you see the magnificence of Halo as well as begging us to let you set foot upon it to cleanse it! Instead you make snide remarks against the Covenant's will! You're here at our expense, never forget that."

Of course he didn't try to defend his command, what did Thel expect? Empathy seemed to take offence at everything, considering all forms of insults as some form of a personal attack. Even if it was directed at someone else. Bluster, not that Thel would call it such aloud. For his part, at least Varvok was keeping a relatively cool head, as evidenced by his even handed response.

"You'll need every available man to search Halo for the human survivors." Varvok reminded them both. "That includes my men and our varren. If you think you can manage better without them, be my guest."

Empathy probably would've tossed the batarian out, but Thel realised he needed everyone on deck if they were to resolve this quickly. He also recognized the importance of the varren. The reptilian beasts would be able to track the humans down with ease, he'd need them.

"Very well Varvok," Thel spoke up before the Prophet could respond. "You will have your second chance to prove your worth."

The Prophet of Empathy seemed incensed at being cut off.

"What?!" he shouted in disbelief. "We're going to let him on the Ring after... this!"

"Not unsupervised, your Excellence." Thel assured before turning to the command console and opening a channel. "Send the Kig-Yar in now."

The doors to the bridge opened wide. The metal floor clacked as the bird-like feet of the Kig-Yar walked in. He was hunched over, lugging a focus rifle across his back as he walked in. His body and head were hunched forward. His brown skin dotted with little pecks and scars across his body. His armour was etched with a good number of lines that he had scratched onto it over the years, indications of his long career. His purple-bluish feathers were adorned in that usual mowhawk-style his kind wore them in, but unlike many a Kig-Yar they were much cleaner. The targeting visor on his head was currently on, but he switched off the holographic eye piece before standing straight. As straight as any Kig-Yar could stand at least. He stared up at Thel, cocking his head slightly side to side.

"Welcome to the bridge, Zek." Thel greeted grimacing. "Do you know why I've summoned you?"

The Kig-Yar merely shrugged and repositioned the rifle over his shoulders.

"I can't say I do to be honest." Zek replied in his wispy scraggly voice, sniffing slightly through the nostrils in his beak. "I can only guess it's something important if a Sangheili wants to talk to me. I thought I was beneath you all last I heard."

Once again the Prophet of Empathy saw fit to insert his own form of order on the Kig-Yar, rather than let Thel handle him. The Prophet slammed his bony little fist onto his floating miniature throne. It was getting extremely predictable and annoying how often he kept interrupting.

"Watch your tongue, pirate!" Empathy ordered. "Or do you want your snide remarks to land you in the brig once more?"

Thel stepped out in ahead of the Prophet on the command deck, trying to reassert his own authority. Zek looked unhinged by either display. He was so typical of Kig-Yar, so cocky, brash, sure of himself and arrogant. Above all they were defiant of any authority but their own. There was a reason they were so low in the hierarchy within the Covenant, second only to the Unggoy as the lowest ranking species in fact. They weren't soldiers, they were criminals, opportunists, but they had their uses regardless. At least they weren't Jiralhanae, for they possessed a semblance of intelligence in those greedy skulls of theirs.

"Your report claimed you encountered the Normandy crew three times aboard the human ship," Thel explained to Zek. "Three times you faced them. You even reached the Normandy itself. Yet you failed to kill any of them before you retreated."

Again, the Kig-Yar just shrugged nonchalantly.

"Everyone has bad days, Supreme Commander." He answered simply. "You can't expect to kill your prey on the first shot every time. That's especially so when they're all accomplished marksman in their own right."

"That sounds more like an excuse than anything. Not to mention a compliment towards the enemy." Thel replied, crossing his arms in disbelief and subdued anger. "Your record claims you're far more capable than this. Could it be you're just slipping?"

That finally seemed to touch a nerve with Zek, his eyes narrowed as he looked up at Thel.

"Rest assured, next time will be different." He swore.

"You'll get the chance to uphold that promise." Thel answered, motioning to Varvok. "You will be accompanying Lieutenant Commander Varvok to Halo. Your mission will be to assist him in hunting the humans on the surface and of course reporting on his actions as well."

No sense in hiding it from Varvok, the batarian was smart enough to figure it out on his own. Besides, Thel wanted him to know Zek was watching him. A Kig-Yar Sniper was a dangerous set of eyes, no matter what side you were on. Zek for his part gave the batarian a wizened look upon learning of his mission.

"Oh so that's why he's here." Zek noted "Does that mean I can't bring my crew along then? They'd appreciate the fresh air if nothing else."

Thel rolled his eyes, to think a pirate would have the audacity to request something from him of all people. However, it did offer the opportunity to get rid of Zek's men for awhile and put them to use.

"Tell them they're permitted onto The Ring, but they are your baggage." Thel warned "As are Varvok's men for him. Now go, both of you."

Zek and Varvok were quick to walk off, eager to get their jobs done. Maybe for different reasons, but so long as they produced results Thel didn't care.

"Heard batarians got some mean rifles," Zek spoke in delighted voice at the prospect fo using one as he walked out of the bridge. "Don't suppose I can't try a few."

"We'll see, Zek." Varvok responded, seemingly unmoved by the request. "It will depend on how well you can pull your own weight."

"Hardcase, huh?" Zek responded, feigning disappointment. "And here I was hoping you'd be different from the sangheili and lacked a stick up your ass. Oh well."

Thel could just hear Vorvak groan as the doors shut. Good, Zek was his problem now. Although the Prophet of Empathy didn't seem to appreciate the arrangement as much as he did.

"I don't like letting those batarians and pirates work together." He grumbled. "Let alone being allowed on Halo with true believers."

"Our fleet is large, but we took significant losses in the battle with the humans." Thel reminded him. "We must make do with what we have."

Empathy swivelled his throne back to him, an angered look on his face.

"If you had waited for the Jiralhanae ships to ready themselves to follow us we would not have to make due." He declared.

Once again the Prophet showed why they needed his people, they weren't strategists, nor did they understand war.

"And the humans might have reached Halo first." Thel reminded him. "I made a calculated risk. Besides, we do not need those savages to resolve this. The sangheili will carry the day as we always have. We simply need to coordinate our forces to overwhelm the human survivors quickly before they can establish a firm presence on Halo."

"Perhaps you are right," Empathy admitted slumping back in his chair, "but that will require pulling teams away from excavation in order to initiate such a rapid response. I'm not sure if that is preferable, perhaps we should consult the Oracle first."

Thel merely nodded. It would be a good idea to ask it what they needed to do. After all, excavation was just as important, but the humans were a threat. He just hoped that the Oracle saw his side of the argument. He pressed a few buttons on the console and opened another channel, this one took awhile to establish considering the range the connection needed to travel. In moments, a holographic image appeared on the screen. It showed the image of a sloped headed many legged machine with one large eye surrounded by three smaller ones on either side of it in the center. Thel looked to its previously damaged appendage and saw their repairs were practically completed. No doubt the new weapons system was already installed and the Oracle was almost at full working capacity once more.

"What is the purpose of this transmission?" it demanded to know "Do you have news of excavation?"

"No, Great Inquisitor, not presently I am afraid." Empathy stated, sounding more humble now than he had all day. "We wish to inform you the humans have arrived as you predicted and we were able to destroy their ship. But many survivors of the vessel fled to the surface."

Thel quickly cut in.

"We will need to act quickly before they establish a foothold on the surface." He began. "Our ships are moving to intercept their landing sites now to hunt them down, but I believe we will need a more rapid response. Therefore, I suggest we halt excavation and commit all resources to-"

The Inquisitor did not even bother to let him finish.

"There will be no halt of excavation." It declared loudly. "You will continue on the course already set. Use all forces not already previously engaged on the Ring to hunt down the humans, but excavation shall continue unabated."

"My lord," Empathy stated, "perhaps the Supreme Commander is correct. Isn't cleansing Halo more important than uncovering its secrets at the moment? It is what the Forerunners would desire, would they not?"

"You will not presume to speak for the Forerunners." The Inquisitor announced. "Excavation will continue or you will not see the illumination of the path and the Journey will never begin. Use available converted at your disposal however you see fit to make up for your lack of resources. Eliminate the humans and the Normandy crew by whatever means, but excavation will continue. This exchange has ended."

The Inquisitor terminated the communication. It was rather distressing for things to be so final. At least for him, Empathy didn't seem to care.

"We best move the converted into position then." He said simply. "Nothing more we can do."

"This is not an advisable strategy, your excellence." Thel warned. "We give them a chance to escape."

"The Inquisitor has been right so far, Supreme Commander." The Prophet replied his tone unchanged from before. "If it says the Forerunners would wish us to continue excavation, we shall continue excavation. Besides, once we have unlocked the secrets of Halo the humans will be powerless to stop us in any case."

It was pointless to argue, but Thel still didn't like it. He just hoped what they could commit to the fight would be enough to deal with the humans before they spread like an accursed virus and contaminated this ring further. Maybe the Prophet was right, the Inquisitor hadn't led them astray so far and if excavation did indeed unlock Halo's secrets killing the humans would be moot. The Greatest Journey of all would begin and the humans would no longer be a problem.

* * *

It took awhile for the throbbing pain in his head to stop feeling so acute. It took even longer for the inky blackness to recede and for his eyes to finally focus on the world around him. He could hear something prodding him awake a voice, no two, trying to get his attention. Eventually the world came into focus, or more accurately the helmet of a super soldier staring down at him.

"Commander Shepard?" Came a female voice from the radio. "Commander Shepard, can you hear me?"

Shepard's eyes finally opened wide and he could see Chief clearly at last. The pain in his skull returned as he brought a hand up to his head. He got a better view of his surroundings. He had been pushed into the back of the escape pod, just along the edge of the door that had now been blasted off. He could see the other Marines in their chairs, but they weren't moving. The only person that was active, it seemed, was the Master Chief himself.

"Surprised you survived," Chief told him. "I at least had armour lock."

"I've had worse." he swore as he moved his head around slightly. "Crumbling platforms over bottomless pits, getting dropped at a steep angle inside an APC, hell I'm surprised I don't have more bruises."

"Can you move?" Cortana asked through the radio. "Can you get up?"

Shepard rose to his feet, gripping onto the edge of the doorway of the pod to keep himself balanced. It took a moment, but his legs soon solidified and his knees stopped shaking. He looked to Chief and, by extension, Cortana.

"Anyone else make it?" he asked them both.

Chief didn't answer, all Shepard saw a slight tilt of the head. Cortana gave the grim news for him.

"No, just us." she replied sadly. "There was... there's nothing we could've done."

Cortana seemed more upset about the loss than Chief did. She struggled to retain her composure just speaking of the dead Marines, while he remained stoic. Then again, Shepard couldn't really see his face, so who really knew what he was thinking right now. He was good with body language, but the Spartan exhibited little to none.

Regardless, the tragedy of it all was apparent to anyone who could see the lifeboat itself. Shepard looked at the bodies of the Marines in the pod, all dead, slumped in their seats. It didn't matter that they were buckled up, when the air brakes failed the force of the impact did them in. The fact he had laid flat to the floor and shielded himself with his biotics at the last minute were both probably the only factors that had kept him alive. He just hoped it had been quick for the less fortunate Marines.

Like Cortana said, there was nothing more they could do for them. They were on their own. Shepard slowly stepped out of the pod, following Chief as he walked over to an unfortunate pair of Marines that had gotten thrown out of the escape pod when impact blew the door off. They were lying just a few feet away, their equipment and ammo strewn about. One of them was the soldier who had asked Chief if they were gonna make it. Chief bent down next to him in the dirt and dug around his neck for his dog tags. He pulled them off quickly and stood back up as he placed in a compartment on his armour.

So far, it was the closest Shepard had seen the Spartan show a reaction to what had happened.

Shepard now looked up from the dead Marines. The grisly sight was contrasted by what he saw around them. Magnificent pinewoods stretched up to the sky, their bristles a dark shade of green. A dozen yards away from their crash site was an astonishing waterfall crashing down into a rocky little pond. The sunlight glistened against it and the rocks, accenting their natural splendour. It almost felt like a regular little forest clearing or valley on earth, or it would have were it not for the truly alien skyline.

When Shepard's eyes traced upward to look at the horizon and was instantly reminded of how truly alien this artificial world was. The horizon looped around him, it did not end, it just kept going in a circle. He could actually see an island and a continent directly across from him. Directly over him he could see the other side of the ring world itself, marking sky above his head. It was awe inspiring.

He had joined the Alliance to see more than just the paltry few colony worlds humanity had settled in their short time among the stars. Never in a million years would he have guessed he'd have seen something like this.

"This is amazing." He said aloud at last before shouting, "You can see everything. I bet it's even clearer during nightfall!"

A million questions were already flooding his mind, but he didn't get the chance to ask any of them. While Shepard had noticed briefly the Spartan taking in the scenery as well, Chief nevertheless called him back to the situation at hand abruptly.

"We can't be the only ones who got off the _Autumn_." He stated. "Can you contact your ship, Commander?"

Shepard tried, placing his finger up to his ear, but all got was static. He clenched his teeth slightly before lowering his hand.

"Static," he exclaimed "don't seem to be getting a signal otherwise."

He momentarily feared the worst before Cortana reassured him.

"I can't raise anyone on our channels either." The AI chimed in "It's possible the Covenant are trying to jam our frequencies or maybe the ring itself is making it difficult. I'll keep trying to raise someone, but unless it's short range I doubt we'll pick up much of anything until I solve this."

Shepard hoped that Miranda got the Normandy out. She wouldn't have risked the lives of those Marines and the crew indefinitely. She was stubborn, but she wasn't stupid. No, she got the ship out of there, he knew she had. Once they resolved this communication problem they'd be able to call in pick-up and hopefully link up with any survivors on the ring.

Shepard's concerns about the fates of his crewmates were forcibly put aside, however, as Cortana piped back up once more.

"Warning, I've detected a Covenant drop ship on approach." She told them "They must be looking for survivors."

Chief looked over to the left and Shepard joined him by his side. They saw a bridge spanning a crevice that cut through the earth and the side of the cliff. On the other side of the bridge was an incline dotted with trees that led up into the hills above them. They stared out past the cliff itself and could see a single dot closing in fast on their position.

"I recommend moving into the hills." Cortana told them. "With any luck they'll think everyone aboard this pod died in the crash."

"Better than staying out in the open I guess." Shepard agreed.

He ran back to one of the dead Marines and grabbed his sidearm. A pistol was the best he could do for now beyond his shotgun. Chief was already halfway across the bridge when he was done. Shepard wasted no time in rushing after him. He caught up to the Spartan just as the dropship flew clear over their heads. Hopefully they hadn't seen them. The undercarriage turret that swivelled bellow the cockpit didn't seem to target them if that was any indication.

The two made their way into the shadows along the incline that led into the hills. Momentarily they stopped under the trees and looked back towards the pod. The U-shaped dropship had already landed and the full contingent of grunts and Elites spilled out of it. The aliens made their way over to the pod and began to search it and the surrounding area. Shepard saw one of the grunts kick the dead Marines on the ground one after the other, trying to see if they were really dead. An Elite pushed the little gas breather aside, his talons clutching around the tiny alien's face and throwing him back. The Elite's method of testing was more to the point. He simply shot the dead bodies point blank with his plasma rifle and moved on. As the Covenant officer ordered the grunts to search towards the waterfall, Shepard looked to the Master Chief.

"You ever notice how crap they treat those little guys?" He asked the Spartan.

Chief did not answer, but Cortana did. Shepard was getting used to that already.

"Covenant hierarchy has them at the bottom." Explained the AI's voice as it filled Shepard's ear through his com-link. "No one respects them. They're probably the only members of the Covenant that don't even want to be here at all."

Shepard remembered, he had read the files ONI and the UNSC gave them. It still felt weird to Shepard though, even the Blood Pack seemed to treat their vorcha better and they were seen as just as expendable by the krogan. He tried to put it out of his mind, but every time he saw it with his own eyes he was reminded the Covenant wasn't so easy an enemy to grasp.

Looking closer he only saw two Elites in the group. They were both talking with each other now as the grunts scurried about. Even though Shepard hadn't changed his mind about getting to higher ground, he was surprised to see such a small search party. Given how badly the Covenant wanted to keep them off this ring, he expected a few more.

"Only two squads, there's gotta be more nearby," he reasoned quietly.

"Covenant search parties don't stray too far from each other." The Chief concurred. "There's definitely more nearby. Chances are they split from the larger group, only reason they'd do that though is if there was another pod close to this one."

That meant there were probably more survivors nearby and no doubt in need of a good deal of help themselves. As if that wasn't enough incentive to get moving, the next sound they heard was a terrible screeching through the air. They looked up and saw two purple aircraft cutting swaths through the skies above them.

"Banshees," Cortana warned them, "they're widening their search pattern. Let's keep to the shadows and get moving up into the hills."

Shepard and the Master Chief complied and kept moving up the incline towards the top. They left their little lifeboat behind, along with the bodies of their compatriots. There was nothing more for them here, there were no doubt others who needed their help.

* * *

From where she sat, Tali couldn't see the ground rushing up to the lifeboat, but she definitely felt it when they touched down. The air brakes may have slowed them down, but the way the pod slammed into the dirt gave her and everyone else a good jolt. She gripped onto her restraints tightly as the lifeboat skidded at least five feet across the soil before finally coming to a stop. The rough landing brought to mind all those times they dropped the Mako out of the Normandy back in the good old days. This had only been a slightly less harrowing experience, because at least the prospect of Shepard driving afterwards was in no way involved.

"Ugh, worst rollercoaster ever." Kasumi piped up, practically groaning as her head bobbed back and forth. "Thank God I had a light breakfast or I'd be upchucking right now."

Tali thanked all those hours she spent in the simulator on the Flotilla. Father had always insisted she needed to work up a resistance to motion sickness on re-entry if something ever happened. While her head was still spinning, she wasn't nauseous, so that at the very least she could thank him for.

Tali lifted her restraints and stood up. Slowly of course, you didn't want to get lightheaded and collapse back down into the seat. She reached over to the manual release lever and pulled it down. The lifeboat's doors opened up with a hiss and before long everyone was piling out of the crashed pod.

Tali was at the front of the group as it exited. She saw that they had landed in a small enclosed valley with high walls, a few trees dotting the area and a giant pile of rocks covering a hillside to their immediate right. Above them Tali could see the ring, the entire ring, stretching across the sky like a band or a ribbon suspended in the air. This place had certainly earned its spot in the "weirdest places I've been" category quickly. It ranged somewhere between the Collector Base at the center of the galaxy and the Prothean ruins on Ilos.

Tali's gaze towards the alien skyline, however, was interrupted by Kat's exit from the lifeboat.

"I thought you said you could fly this thing?" Kasumi spoke up, looking away from the ring herself to give the Spartan a condescending look.

"I said I could fly, I never said anything about the landing." Kat responded somewhat forcefully. "Besides, we're alive aren't we?"

Not something you could argue with, although Tali probably would've preferred landing near the other pods in their group. At least there would be strength in numbers then. Now there was just their little band against whatever this ring had to offer.

Kat was quick to point out it wasn't all bad, even though no one had said so yet. They were all thinking it of course. That's why the Spartan must've felt it keen to remind them of the rocky hillside by pointing to it.

"And we landed next to a good defensive position." She said, finishing her thought. "We should be able to hold out till pickup. As crash landings go I say we turned out fine."

Tali decided she'd get on ordering that said pickup already. No sense sticking around for any Covenant search parties to find them. It was easier thought of then done though as she soon realised. Her optimism towards the prospect of a speedy rescue was dashed when as all she ended up getting back in her attempts to contact the Normandy was static. Wincing slightly at the noise, she turned off the com and looked back at the assembled group behind her.

"I can't raise the Normandy," she said begrudgingly. "I'm getting a signal, but everything is static."

"You don't think they're..."

Tali wouldn't let Kasumi finish that thought. They couldn't think like that, none of them could think like that. Not now. She wouldn't let them.

"Miranda wouldn't keep the Normandy on a sinking ship. She got off with the Normandy, I'm sure of it." Tali told her. "If I can boost the signal I can cut through the interference and-"

Tali was unable to finish her attempt at consoling her little group of humans, as a loud boom cut her off. At first she thought it was some kind of bombardment, but the truth became evident rather quickly. Tali looked up to where the sound had come from and saw something aflame in the sky coming down close to their position fast.

It wasn't a weapon blast at all, but something entering the atmosphere of the ring. As it came closer to them, Tali realised it was an ODST drop pod. She had never really seen one in person, but she had looked up pictures and she recognized the outline. The pod was headed in hard and in its last moments of flight directed itself towards the top of the rocky hill. Tali heard the crash and saw a ton of dirt get kicked up from up on top like a miniature mushroom cloud.

"Move up!" Kat ordered, immediately taking command.

Tali let her, she was still a Lieutenant Commander and she didn't want to lead anyone anyway. It wasn't her strong suit. The group moved up through the rocks to the top of the hill and found the drop pod resting ankle deep in the dirt. Everyone crowded around the pod, but not too close, the door could explode outward at any moment. You didn't want a slab of metal smacking you clean in the face.

The metal housing of the pod was still seared and smoking from the re-entry process. They only got about a good ten seconds of looking at it before the door of the pod popped clean off, steam poured out from the inside and out stumbled a single orange armour clad big ODST with an assault rifle in hand. Tali instantly recognized him.

"Dutch?" Tali asked amazed. After all, what were the chances out of all the ODSTs that one of Buck's squadmates would land near their crash site?

Dutch looked up to the sound of the quarian girl's voice and chuckled a bit before waving his hand real quick.

"Tali, small ring world." He said jovially, but still catching his breath. "Sorry for dropping in unannounced."

"An extra gun is appreciated." Kat assured him.

Dutch looked briefly to the Spartan, but Tali caught his attention again with another question.

"Where's the rest of your squad?" she asked him. "I thought ODSTs dropped together."

"Yeah, but we ran into some debris on the way down." Dutch explained hastily. "And if that didn't make us change course enough this group of Covenant Phantoms did. They were headed planetside, same as us, and we had to break off our designated drop path to avoid them. Scattered the whole squad from the looks of it, they could be anywhere in this valley by now."

Either way they were stuck with each other for now. Tali explained the problem with their comms, and Dutch apparently had the same with his. Wherever the rest of Dutch's team were they had no idea where he was. Not like Sergeant Buck could've helped them anyway, he probably had his own problems by now.

The whereabouts of Dutch's fellow ODSTs would have to wait though. A strange low hum caused Kat's eyes to dart to the sky in a panic.

"In the rocks, now!" she ordered.

Everyone dashed towards the cover of the rock and shadows. It didn't take long to see Kat's reasons for concern. Flying a few miles overhead was a flight phantoms cresting over the ridge above them. Given Dutch's story perhaps they should've expected them. They seemed to be just scouting the area for now though, so there was no direct threat. Unfortunately, while they could hide, the lifeboat was out in the open. That would be enough to warrant further investigation.

However, despite all the reasons to do so, the Phantoms kept on flying. Why, Tali couldn't figure out. Perhaps they were not loaded down with Covenant soldiers. Maybe they were just on a supply run. One thing was for sure, they or some of their friends would be back to check on things if they had seen that lifeboat. And they most likely had seen it. More importantly, if there were Phantoms in the area then there were Covenant nearby somewhere. Kat seemed to agree with Tali's thoughts.

"Covenant are swarming the valley by now." Kat wagered as she peered out from the rocks. "We best get all our supplies from the lifeboat and be ready for a siege."

The Spartan looked to the Quarian.

"Tali, you keep trying to cut through that static." She told her "I'll see about contacting what's left of the _Autumn's_ crew on my end."

The only real hope they had was for their friends to come for them. There had to be other survivors, they had to be nearby and they had to be coming for them. What other chances did they have? Sticking it out here was going to require a lot of patience and even more luck. But Tali knew one thing for certain, if Shepard was out there, and he was, he'd come for them. He always did.

* * *

Varvok could understand the reverence for this ring from an aesthetic point. In fact he himself was in awe of it. What he couldn't understand was the Covenant's seemingly fanatical desire to kill all of the humans that were currently trapped on it. In fact he couldn't understand a lot of what the Covenant did. Their motivations for hating humanity seemed incredibly circular in their logic. Just by existing they were an offence? They were somehow deemed unholy by the gods? They weren't even given the option of converting to the faith? Considering the Covenant was made up of several different alien races why they singled the humans out he could never figure out beyond the vague religious beliefs of their new allies.

At least he and every other batarian he knew had legitimate reasons for hating humans. They were upstarts and stealing what was rightfully the Hegemony's. What better reason was there to hate them? It made more sense than saying they were a blight or an affront to the Gods or whatever.

Then again he had never been very sure of the Covenant. On the surface they had a lot in common, until he got to know them. And being stuck with them for months already he had really gotten to know them. They were arrogant, fanatical, disrespectful and intolerant. They were like every krogan stereotype to the nth degree and they almost seemed proud of it.

At times, Varvok thought of discussing the wisdom of allying themselves with these genocide hungry fundamentalists with Balak. Was it really worth putting up with them just to get some payback against the Alliance? But then, Varvok remembered he had had that conversation. Maybe they were not in those exact words, but he had brought similar concerns to Balak and each time Balak always said the same thing back.

It was worth it, the cause was worth it and the batarian people were worth it. He told Varvok to suck it up and do his damn job, so Varvok did so like the good soldier he was. Besides, Balak hadn't been wrong before right? Why doubt his judgement now? At least that's what he told himself.

At least for once the Kig-Yar he had rode down to the ring with weren't completely belligerent. Zek had introduced him and his men to his crew rather smarmily though, calling them "The Four Eyed Crinkle Head Brigade" before introducing his men as their "hatchling-sitters for today." It was an annoying first introduction. He was being mocked by a damn bird, and one that was shorter than him, and worst of all he had to take it.

But while he thought this was going to be the start of a painful trip to the surface, Varvok was pleasantly surprised to find that Zek was more interested in checking out his beam rifle and headset scope. At least he seemed to take his role as a sniper seriously. From what little time they had spent with each other so far it had been the only thing he showed any sense of passing professionalism about. He certainly wasn't your regular Covenant soldier, it was kind of refreshing.

Zek's ship was a corvette, although it had under gone some upgrades according to the Kig-Yar in the past few months. For one, better shields courtesy of mass effect technology. Also it had been fitted with a single heavy plasma turret along the front. They were supposedly only reserved for battlecruisers, somehow Zek had gotten it onto his Corvette without sacrificing mobility. That couldn't have been his doing or any of his men. They didn't seem incredibly tech savvy. Gun savvy yes, tech savvy no.

The corvette had entered the atmosphere and had begun ferrying Zek's crew along with Varvok's men down to the surface proper. Whether it was batarian shuttles or those U-shaped dropships the Covenant liked so much didn't matter, so long as they all got down there.

The view from the surface of the ring world was certainly unique. Although given how odd this place appeared to be that was no surprise. He had to admit, it wasn't much of a stretch to believe this place had some kind of religious sort of awe to it.

When he stepped out onto the surface with his men, he saw that the Kig-Yar had already gotten to work setting up a little base camp. They had pop-up shields, a few shade turrets for good measure and even some gun pods strewn about. Zek was directing the set up as well as keeping watch over the area. Varvok approached him as he told his men to help out their little bird friends. He wanted to talk to his counter-part for the moment, see if he had some sort of strategy to give regarding hunting down the humans. Probably not worth the effort to ask, but he had that kill count strewn across his armour for a reason.

"So do we even have an idea where to start looking?" he asked the Kig-Yar.

"I got my people up in the ship scanning for human beacons," Zek assured "they'll let us know and then we can go running off to murder people to your heart's content, Lieutenant Commander."

Well that was a blunt, but Varvok had gotten use to the surly attitude.

"Hopefully we can find most of them out in the open." Varvok added "Should make sniping them from afar easier."

"What would be easier would be burning this whole damn valley with the sangheili's giant plasma guns and just forgetting it." Zek replied snappily. "But I suppose that would be heretical and not kosher, so it's hard way for us instead. Whatever, it just means less space on my armour in the end."

Varvok was rather surprised by the offhanded way Zek just seemed to mock the Covenant religion. He hadn't really seen that before, although he had gotten hints of it back on the Command ship.

"A bit cavalier of you, don't you think? Suggesting a course of action that calls for the burning of the surface of a sacred piece of your religion is heresy, isn't it?" he asked.

Zek just seemed to scoff at the comment, not even bothering to hide his discontent.

"My religion, ha, please." He responded in a sarcastic tone, snorting through his beak with disdain for the insuation. "Don't insult me, Lieutenant Commander. I'm not here because of that garbage anymore than you are. I'm here for the same reason every other kig-yar is here, profit."

Admittedly, Varvok hadn't done much research on the lower class members of the Covenant hierarchy. Balak said getting on the Sangheili and Prophets good sides were the only things that mattered since they were the de facto leadership. Everyone else wasn't a concern, so Varvok focused more on pleasing them than anyone else. But Zek's words were confusing to him.

"I don't see much profit in genocide to be honest." He informed him.

"And yet here you are, funny how that works." Zek replied in his usual sardonic manner. "You see, we joined the Covenant because when they started bombing us we realised cutting a deal to be their go-to assassins was better than getting slaughtered. We did the covert dirty work for a long time before we accidentally stumbled upon some human colony and then we get stuck in this. But they pay us, so we're still here. They're giving you batarians something you want, so you're still here even though you obviously don't like them. It's just how the galaxy works. Everyone has a price."

Zek walked away from Varvok, moving towards a large rock formation. He jumped up on top of it and began surveying the area with his telescopic visor. Varvok was close behind. What could he say? Zek had caught his attention. Plus he was eager for a semi-civilised conversation with a Covenant soldier, and this was certainly better than being told constantly how he was an unbelieving heathen,

"You don't sound like the kind of kig-Yar who would just up and sell out for credits." Varvok informed him as he looked up to the top of the rock.

"You'd be surprised what cold hard credits and plunder rights can do to one's sense of self-governance." Zek replied. "Besides, I still get to crack little derisive comments now and again. So long as they pay, I follow."

"I don't buy that." Varvok told him in disbelief. "I was in the same room during our talk with the Supreme Commander and the Prophet, remember? They locked you in the brig, more than once from the sound of it. It can't just be because you made a few rude remarks."

Zek sighed in annoyance at the continued pestering and jumped down right in front of Varvok. The look on his exasperated face said it all, but true to his nature he mouthed off anyway.

"Look, I'm here to do a job. I'm not here to make friends. And I don't need to justify my existence to you or anyone." He began to bark back at him, poking him in the chest as he did. "The long and short of things is that I took this job for the same reasons my ancestors took it, to save my hide from getting plasma bombarded to crispy giblets. So now I hunt humans, make sarcastic quips to piss off the Sangheili when I can and never ask questions about why the hell they think stuff like this stupid ring is important. I just take my payment and go about my business."

His questions weren't over, in fact he had more now, but Varvok supposed that pressing him further was just gonna get him a harsher tongue lashing. Luckily, he didn't need to say anything to get things back down to a more civilised level. One of Zek's men did that for him by interrupting things.

"Boss!" he called out as he ran forward, his energy shield at his side. "Word's come down from the ship. They detected a number of human lifeboats entering the atmosphere, not to mention a few larger transport craft. They said they looked to be moving to the south of our position."

Zek was instantly snapped out of his mood, turning to his fellow kig-yar with a less angered sneer and a more pleasant demeanour.

"Good, no sense keeping them waiting for us." He said as he continued to speak to the Kig-Yar. "Round up the men then, Retz. We're going for a nature hike."

Zek only briefly looked back to Varvok as he left with Retz. He didn't need to tell him to come along, he had to. The kig-yar was just making sure he'd follow. And of course he did, summoning his fellow batarians as they prepared to make their way to the humans' positions.

"The kig-yar just got us a lead, men." he informed them all through the comm-link. "I want everyone ready to move now. The longer we wait the greater chance they have to gain a foothold in the area."

* * *

They hadn't been walking long, but it had been eerily quiet. The shrill shrieks of the banshee aircraft had vanished, giving way to more natural sounds. Well, as natural as anything was on this ring at least. Master Chief had remained pretty quiet for most of the walk. Although every now and again Shepard thought he heard him talking in a hushed tone, but he doubted it was to himself. He could make out a word or two now and again, about 'lifeboats' and 'patrols' and 'command.' Other than that, Shepard couldn't hear the conversation. Slightly perplexed, he finally spoke up.

"Excuse me," he began, catching the Spartan's attention. "I don't mean to interrupt but... are you two having a private conversation in front of me?"

Chief, again, said nothing, but Cortana answered for him, speaking aloud over the radio.

"We meant no offence, Commander." She assured. "Me and the Chief were simply discussing the likelihood of survivors evading Covenant patrols and if I had made any progress with establishing contact with command. I haven't by the way, working on it though."

"It wasn't really that important." Chief added, before he quickly changed the subject. "We should keep moving."

Shepard had been hanging back a bit before, but now he caught up to the Chief with a brief run. They got close to a small rocky ledge that led deeper into the valley. Chief dropped down first, slowly followed by Shepard. He was now able to get next to the towering Spartan with ease, plopping right beside him.

"If you don't mind me saying, you seem less chatty now." He said. "I mean on the ship..."

"I was complimenting your skills." Chief explained simply. "It's just good battle conduct."

Man of few words this one, Shepard thought. He knew this wasn't the time to ask questions, although he had plenty, but he was starting to wonder if Chief would answer any of them if they did have time. He didn't even seem to be annoying him, at least not on the surface. He wasn't a mind reader after all. What was weirder was how Cortana was a lot more forthcoming than her human escort.

Before Shepard could think of the matter further, Cortana piped up again.

"I've detected a lifeboat beacon up ahead." She said, somewhat excitedly. "We should check and see if there are any survivors."

It didn't take long to confirm if there were survivors. As they moved forward towards a bend in the rocks, they heard plasma and gunfire coming from up ahead.

"UNSC assault rifles," Chief noted aloud, "we're close, just around this bend."

Chief ran off once more and Shepard had to keep up once more. Rounding the bend they saw two squads of Covenant, consisting of grunts and Elites. Their dropship was just taking off and they were exchanging fire with a large structure just ahead of them. They could see Marines running about on the upper level of the structure, firing down on the Covenant below as they tried to swarm the protruding construction. The Marines were tough, but they looked to be getting hammered by the barrage of Covies.

Then a familiar shot rang out, a loud bang from a gun. Shepard instantly recognized the sound of the shot.

"That's a Mantis," he realised.

Looking up at the structure he saw one of the defenders stood out, because he was the only one with grey-plates for skin and a large bony ring surrounding his upper torso. His rifle cut down a grunt as it hobbled along the ground, no denying it now.

"Garrus is with them!" Shepard shouted out amazed. "He got off the _Autumn_ okay!"

"Let's make sure he stays that way." Chief added.

The Spartan was quick to rush into battle, assault rifle drawn and at the ready. He fired into the backs of two grunts, rupturing their methane tanks after a spray of rounds. One rocketed into a tree, smashing his skull in. The other died from the bullets cutting into his back, but his corpse scrapped along the ground until the pack exploded.

It caught the attention of two more grunts who had barely enough time to charge their plasma pistols and fire a few shots before the Master Chief lobbed a grenade into their midst. The explosion took out the two aliens as a cloud of dirt and shrapnel enveloped them. Chief ran to a tree for cover, his shields already recovering from the few meagre hits he took.

Shepard hadn't been hanging back and watching this just unfold, not his style. While his Spartan counterpart broke left he went right towards a clump of rocks on the other side of the clearing. The Covenant who had taken shelter there soon noticed his approach and the little grunts fired needles and plasma bolts at him.

They were joined by one of the Elites, who added his own fire from his plasma rifle. Shepard didn't bother to waste time with firing from a distance. He closed the gap with a powerful biotic charge that flung him clean into a grunt clutching a needler. Then, still brimming with biotic energy, he slammed his fist into the ground and let a nova wave either strike down the grunts or force them from cover.

Sadly, the Elite braved the storm and launched himself off the top of one of the rocks towards. He fired downwards with his rifle, forcing Shepard to roll to the left lest he be perforated. Nova drained your biotic barriers meaning there was nothing to protect him from getting filled with plasma holes. Shepard pointed his shotgun back up to the Elite and fired two inferno charged rounds at the Covenant officer. Both managed to hit and drain the shields of the alien, but when Shepard went for a third shot all he heard was a click. Out of thermal clips already, crap. He must've used most of them on the _Autumn_.

The Elite, sensing his chance at an easy kill, charged. With no other option, Shepard mustered all his might to send a biotic punch careening into the Elite before he could pummel the human commander to death. The tremendous point blank blast of biotic power sent the Elite flying clean into the rocky wall of the clearing and yet amazingly, not but two seconds after, the alien was standing up again. Shepard quickly changed to the powerful UNSC magnum pistol and fired two rounds into the Elite. One struck his shoulder, the other his head. Brains now pouring from the hole in the Covie's skull, the Elite collapsed dead.

Chief in the meantime had engaged the grunts Shepard had scattered as well as the remaining Elite overseer. The Elite roared at the death of his partner and motioned his decimated forces to attack the Spartan. Chief stepped out from his cover behind the tree, and using his own pistol, tracked the grunts as they rushed his position. He caught one in the head and another in the neck, both fatal shots, but a third grunt struck the Chief's shields with a fully charged plasma bolt.

"Compensating with emergency recharge!" Cortana shouted aloud in his ear.

But it would prove to be unnecessary. Bullets rained down from above, halting the grunt charge dead in its tracks. They collapsed dead on the ground within seconds. It wasn't hard to figure out where the shots had come from, but Chief looked up anyway to see the Marines, Garrus and what appeared to be a single ODST giving him knowing nods or thumbs up.

That of course just left the Elite to deal with now. The alien zigzagged across the ground, avoiding the gunfire from on high. He kept focused on the Master Chief as the Spartan tried to move back for cover. Shepard, watching the scene, thought it would be easy to catch the Elite off guard so he launched a shockwave at the Covie. Instead the Elite easily tucked and rolled away from the powerful biotic attack and fired on Shepard for good measure, forcing him to duck down into the rocks.

His momentary misplacement of attention, however, gave Chief the opening he needed. The Spartan closed the distance with the Covie and struck him square in the face with the butt of his rifle. The Elite stumbled back, but retained his composure and recovered his stance. It didn't last long though, as a furious barrage of bullets cut into his shields, Chief practically emptying the remaining magazine into shields and then his body.

When the assault rifle went click, the Spartan let the magazine fall to the ground. The Elite was bleeding profusely, but he would not give up. Full of holes and barely able to stand he raised his plasma rifle to fire off two feeble bolts at the Chief. None of them would hit. The Spartan brushed the gun aside and delivered a powerful punch straight to the alien's skull. The Elite collapsed, blood pooling around his head from the traumatic final blow.

"They never do just stay down, do they?" Cortana asked him rhetorically when it was over.

"Nope." He replied simply.

With the battle over Shepard ran up to the Chief to greet the excited defenders now pouring down the ramp of the massive structure that towered above them. Among them were Garrus and an ODST. While he couldn't see his face through the visor, Shepard recognized the armour. It was Sergeant Buck, funny seeing him here as well.

"The cavalry has arrived!" announced one delighted Marine looking at the Master Chief. "Good to see you sir. I was starting to think we were the only ones who got off the _Autumn_. Welcome to the party."

The Marine was brushed lightly aside as another of them joined the ranks. He was an African-American with an Army's cap and thin upper lip moustache, holding an assault rifle like Chief's. Shepard recognized him too, Sergeant Johnson... who had previously jumped into his hammerhead hover attack vehicle and fired a few missiles off from it. Of course that was to help get them off Reach, so Shepard didn't mind too much in the end.

"Quit crowding him, Bisenti," Johnson told the other Marine. "And mind your protocol. He ain't the only Superior Officer here after all."

Sergeant Johnson then nodded to both Chief and Shepard at the same time.

"Commander Shepard, Master Chief, good to see you both sirs." he began. "You just up and saved our asses from the plasma torch. Our lone alien friend here swore you'd find a way to show up all along though."

That gave Shepard a bit of a grin and he turned towards Garrus beside Buck.

"Really? That much faith in me, huh?" he asked the turian.

"You do tend to eventually gravitate towards trouble." Garrus elaborated with his own cocky grin. "I figured you'd be along eventually."

Shepard was just glad to see that Garrus had gotten off the _Autumn_ alive. He could handle a few of his patented good natured jabs. He then turned his attention to Buck.

"So how exactly did you end up here, Sergeant?" he asked

"Helping him not crash." He explained, pointing to Garrus with a good natured rib of his own. "We almost hit a bunch of Phantoms on the way down. When we spotted this tower here giving off flares we used it to guide ourselves in."

Shepard looked back up to the tower and watched as it fired off one of the aforementioned energy flares straight into the sky. He had no idea what the purpose of it was. Maybe these things were generators, powering sections of the ring world to keep it stable. Tali would probably have ideas of her own by now.

That brought up other concerns though.

"Have you seen or heard from any of the others?" he asked Garrus worriedly.

"No, nothing." Garrus responded, the smile fading from his mandibles, replaced by one of deep concern. "Tried reaching the Normandy but all we got was static."

"Same here." Shepard concurred in a similar downtrodden tone.

While he was concerned for the others, he knew they could hold their own. He just wished they could contact for pick up. Then he could search for them all directly instead of just shuffling around here in the dirt.

"What exactly is our situation, Sergeant?" Chief asked of Johnson.

Johnson motioned to the tower and began to lead them all back up the ramp.

"It's a mess sirs." he explained. "Far as we can tell we're scattered all over this valley. We called for evac, what little good that did with the static, and Buck and Garrus helped hold the tower, but until you both showed up I thought we were cooked. Thankfully, we're still in pretty good shape, due in no small part to your other Crewman."

They arrived on the upper level of the structure and Johnson motioned his head over to what he was talking about. Crouching along the side of the massive flare shooting device in the center of the platform was Mordin, tending the wounds of a few Marines.

"Needle damage extensive." He said examining one of the Marines' limbs. "May require amputation."

The Marine's face went white with fear. Mordin quickly suppressed a chuckle.

"Joke. Ample appliance of Medi-Gel will suffice. Apologies for minor scare." Mordin quickly took a small breath. "Taking mind off pain."

"Could you please not make jokes anymore." The Marine asked "Like... never."

Mordin then noticed Shepard, as soon as he was done applying the medi-gel he stood back up and walked over to the Commander.

"Shepard, good to see you." He said in his usually upbeat and rapid tenor of speech. "Hope your landing was better than ours. Sudden stop was most distressing. Surprised managed maintain faculties. Imagine skipping breakfast helped."

"Good to see you too, Mordin." Shepard replied. "But I think our touchdown was pretty damn bad. Loss of airbrakes."

"Pity." Mordin relented. "At least in one piece. Never would have made it here on broken leg I imagine."

At least that was two of his crew that were safe, as safe as anyone was out here with the Covenant hunting them. The question was now, how were they going to find the others or for that matter get out of this valley alive.

"Is there any chance that even with the static someone will know we're here?" Shepard asked the group.

"Whatever is jamming the signal seems to be focused along lines of communication." Cortana assured. "If I could pick up the lifeboat's tracking beacon someone else could easily pick up on it too. If there are other people searching for survivors then they'll pick it up on their equipment. They may not be able to contact us at first, but once they get in range the static should dissipate and we can alert them to our presence."

"Then we defend this position until evac arrives." Chief reasoned.

The Spartan looked over to the valley beyond the structure they were on. From here you could see the massive gas giant that the ring orbited as well as the accompanying moon. Below they could see the three drop pods that Mordin, Garrus and Buck had used to get down to the ring embedded in the soil. To the left was a strange pair of tubes that arched out of the ground and back into it. More than likely they were part of the tower's underground mechanism. To the right a small box-like structure that was sticking out of the ground. There was no entrance. It was just a smaller platform with a ramp leading to the top. And just beyond a cluster of trees in front of all of this was the lifeboat itself, its beacon their only chance of escape.

"Covenant will no doubt realise something is up when their men don't check in. We best get ready." Chief informed the others.

Shepard looked to Garrus on that note.

"You wouldn't happen to have a few extra thermal clips would you?" he asked.

"I'm always bailing you out aren't I?" Garrus asked snidely as he reached into one of the storage compartments on his armour and presented a few to Shepard. "Lock and load, Wade, I think this day is gonna be a long one."

* * *

Tali hated it when her suspicions were right. Okay, to be accurate she hated it when all her negative suspicions were right. The ones involving impending doom and getting killed by any of the crazed monsters they encountered on a regular basis. This time it was about those blasted Phantoms they had seen. They were coming back and they weren't alone. There was a new dropship in the flight, one of the U-shaped ones. Tali could only imagine that the Phantoms had gone off to pick up some heavy equipment, mainly tanks. She couldn't really see though, not with the naked eye. So she looked through the UNSC Pistol she had scavenged from their pod's wreckage.

The scope on the handgun got her a better view, enough for her to see that the Phantoms weren't carrying anything new on their undercarriages. So why were they coming back, unless they were going to act as air support or something. Well they'd just stay in the rocks and keep out of the crosshairs of their plasma turrets. The plan called for it anyway. The twisting narrows of the rocks made them ideal for close quarters combat. As long as they remained inside their natural fortress the Covenant would have to come to them. That way, any superior numbers the Covenant used against them would be broken up and they'd have more corners to hide around.

Along with Tali's pistol, they scavenged what weapons they could from the lifeboat. They included a sniper rifle from one of the overhead compartments and a shotgun that Dutch had packed along inside his ODST pod. Tali, because she was running low on Thermal clips anyway, gave her weapons over to both Kasumi and Kat. Kat took the Phalanx and most of its thermal clips while Kasumi what was left to replenish her guns. Dutch gave Tali the shotgun. She was already comfortable with the shell-based weapon as she had used it before on Reach. She had just hoped that Dutch wouldn't need it. But he assured her he'd be fine without it.

Everyone else in the group grabbed any pistols or assault rifles they could, one of the Marines took the sniper rifle of course, although no one expected to get much use out of it since they'd be staying within the rocks until pick-up. But it would have its use nonetheless. There was a big open space along the field before the Covenant could get within shooting range of the rocks. Enough time to fire a few rounds and maybe thin their numbers. Tali went up to the front of the lines with most of the others, Kat and Dutch were covering their own entrances while Kasumi was... well somewhere. Tali had long gotten use to her tendency to disappear and reappear seemingly at will. Didn't mean she was out of contact with her though.

As the Phantoms closed in the U-shaped dropship veered off to the right.

"Kas," Tali spoke up on the comm-link, "do you have visual on the other dropship?"

"Yep, it's moving to the clearing right of us and just... hovering. Huh, it's like they're waiting."

Kasumi's confusion was shared and Tali looked back to the Phantoms. They weren't landing either. But their bellies did open up. A light exhumed out of the exit hatch of the phantoms and just as quickly things began to pour out from them. They looked like little sacks of flesh, with jutting little bits of flame pooling around them. Tali followed them to the ground with her pistol scope, and soon learned the terrible truth.

Hobbling up among the trees and the small little incline along their position were several reddish hunchbacked creatures. Through her scope, Tali could see some kind of backpack strapped to them with tubes filtering down to their little stomachs. Fire poured from their maws as wires and metal mesh surrounded their faces. But Tali could still see their eyes, now coloured dark red and menacing. Their screamed loudly and flames exploded from their mouths, spraying into a powerful and sustained blast of fire. The Covenant had just shown them a new husk, grunts turned into walking flamethrowers.

"Well that's just perfect isn't it?" Dutch asked with a shrug, not at all seemingly phased by the appearance of these things. "They're gonna smoke us out. Just when you hope the Covenant have resigned themselves to beating you with overwhelming numbers they throw you a curveball."

"We can't let them get inside the rocks." Kat said quickly, sounding a lot more serious than the ODST nearby. "The flames will turn this place into a barbecue pit if we let them. We either draw them off or hold them back."

The flamethrower grunts were already pressing on their position. No time to pick who was going to do what and Tali had already come up with a plan. She knew how volatile the regular grunts' methane packs were. Now their bodies were basically packing explosive gasses. Despite the horrendous changes their weaknesses were the same.

"Aim for the bulging humps on their backs!" Tali shouted at Kat and Dutch. "I'll draw them off!"

She didn't even wait for the typical cry of 'wait' or whatever Kat was screaming by now. Despite Dutch's hardiness and Kat's experience, she felt she had the best chance. Unlike them, she had extra back up. Chiktikka appeared on the battlefield, scanning for targets as Tali moved up to the middle of the incoming flamethrower grunts. They hobbled forward nearing the quarian with flaming spit dribbling from their mouths.

It was then Tali realised they could do more than just spew fire. With a sickening hacking sound the nearest husk spat a lob of molten liquid towards her. Whether it was metal or an implanted device she had no time to postulate. She jumped to the side as the infernal loogie passed by. It hit one of the rocks, causing a piece of it to melt right off the stone.

One more thing to avoid with these things, she thought, good to know.

Tali raised her shotgun and fired a single blast into the husk's bulging hump. It didn't take much to rupture it, much like a regular flamethrower tank. Tali backed away slightly, anticipating the inevitable explosion that would kill that thing and any of his friends nearby. The husk writhed and screeched, spewing fire everywhere with its mouth and mere seconds later exploded in a brilliant blaze of orange.

But beyond that it wasn't your regular explosion you would encounter from a pyro-trooper. The bulging hump ripped upward, releasing a tower of flames. Something she believed Humans would liken to a pyrotechnic display at a concert or those Roman candle fireworks as they called them. The flames ate the little husk from the inside out, but the other husks nearby barely even registered what was happening. What few sparks landed on them did nothing to set off their own humps. Their skin was seemingly flameproof and the death of their comrade produced little shrapnel that could puncture their packs.

It certainly was an upgrade from previous flamethrower troops. Was it some kind of personalised self-destruct system or just how they were designed by the Inquisitor? Mordin could no doubt tell her more if he was able to do an autopsy, but right now all Tali knew was that at the very least her shotgun could kill them.

So Tali took aim at another of the husks as they crawled forwards. She fired a blast of buckshot, punching through his hump with ease. Again his hump punctured and he went off like a firework. Another of his friends shot a stream of fire at her and Tali moved back as the flames hit her shields.

Chiktikka joined the fray, firing a powerful chain-lighting attack. The electrical charge seemed to travel up the metal tubes, igniting whatever gasses or liquids inside the hump within moments. The creature exploded from the inside out, fire engulfing the huskified grunt while the ones beside him were unharmed.

Even protected by her shields and her suit, Tali could feel the heat resonating from the hobbling beasts. She fired three shots in quick succession, each cutting through a husk with ease. The growls of the ones still alive could still be heard through the emolliated screams of their comrades. Tali wouldn't let up, people were counting on her. The more she aggravated these fire beasts the more they'd be drawn to her instead of the others in the rocks.

One of the husks readied another molten spit attack, she could tell from the way the creature's head went back. An idea in her head she tried to time her shot right. When the creature's head came back straight she fired a buckshot blast and watched as the spread ripped the husk's face clean apart. The molten metal burned off the flesh, revelling what was left of the original grunt's skeleton. It plopped down dead on the ground with its hump pointed to the side.

"Time for a little battlefield experiment." She thought aloud.

She gripped her shotgun careful, reloaded a shell and then fired at the hump just as another line of husks crawled nearby. The hump exploded like a Roman candle once more. While the fire didn't ignite the little hobbling creature directly in front of the blaze, the kinetic force of the blast made it fall onto its back. While it wiggled and jostled around trying to right itself, the already dead grunt husk rocketed across the ground smacking other husks into similar positions.

They were easy targets for Chiktikka now, who had been zapping the little monsters left and right, sending towering infernos into the sky. The husks seemed to ignore the little drone, not recognizing it as a potential threat despite all the damage she was inflicting. Chiktikka's new victims now founds themselves being launched into the air as their own packs ignited and threw them into the sky.

Tali moved over to the lifeboat quickly as another blast of fire rocketed towards her. It hit the lifeboat instead, burning up the metal into the red within moments. She poked her head out again to fire another round, taking out yet another of the little monsters, but more just seemed to keep coming.

"Well, I wanted their attention." She said to herself.

But as the grunt husks closed in fire erupted from the rocks. Bullets whizzed out and struck the incoming turned Covies. Tali looked back to see Dutch, Kat and the rest of the Marines adding their own fire to her counter-attack. It was certainly doing the job, puncturing the humps of the husks and causing their usual self-combustion, but it wasn't much better than her previous methods.

The sporadic fire wasn't entirely accurate though, some bullets simply ruptured the husks' stomachs or the tubes leading to them. Yellow liquid poured out of them, pooling around the now twitching creatures. Again, Tali didn't think it was much good. If only they had a few area of effect weapons, maybe that would help. Eerily enough, a certain ODST must've read her mind.

"Tali!" shouted Dutch. "Use this on'em! This should thin them out!"

Tali saw a little ball get tossed her way. She grabbed it to reveal it was a grenade ready to have its pin pulled. It was a good thought by Dutch, but in all honesty she wondered how really effective a single grenade could be. She may get three or more, but there were still plenty coming. Looking back to the flamethrower grunts, however, Tali once more noticed the pools of liquid surrounding the dead husks that had caught bullets to their stomachs.

A thought occurred to her. Could it really be that simple?

She switched to her pistol, clutched the grenade in one hand and dashed out of cover. She fired a few stray shots at the husks, aiming for their stomachs this time with the more precision aim of the pistol. That same yellow liquid pooled out and Tali saw her moment to act. She pulled the pin in the middle of her run and tossed it towards the liquid and the line of enemies.

The grenade's explosion ignited the flammable liquid, led straight back into the ruptured bellies of the husks, and this time the explosions from them were the ones she had originally hoped for. The little husks blew like fuel barrels instead of just being engulfed in flames. The other husks were ripped apart by instead of simply going off like organized controlled fireworks. Chunks of flesh and metal flew everywhere and a blazing fire wall covered the area. Tali had been right, it was that simple.

She returned to the rocks to see Kat shaking her head for a moment.

"Next time try not to wing so much." She warned, before adding in a much commending light, "Good job by the way."

The quarian looked back to see if it really was a nice job. The grunt husks did appear to be all dead, their bodies acting like little fuel barrels when their safety feature was bypassed. But that still left the traditional Covenant and Tali had a feeling more of those things would be on their way. No matter, they'd be ready for them this time.

She looked back to Kat and nodded simply. No sense in basking in the praise, they weren't out of this just yet. Kasumi was kind enough to remind them.

"Heads up gang!" she warned "Dropship is actually landing now! Guess they got bored of the fireworks show."

* * *

Kowalski hadn't been in many simulated lifeboat drops, none of them had done the real thing any justice. It was like being on a roller coaster, but with no sense of up or down before the final moments. Unlike a roller coaster though, there was only one giant terrifying fall. One that made your face feel like it was gonna be ripped off before your Adam's apple decided to eject itself from your throat. The sudden stop at the end was only slightly lessened by the air brakes, but at least he didn't throw up. That would've been really embarrassing, especially with Samara sitting across from him.

Kowalski had never been happier to get out of a vehicle in his life. He managed to avoid the cliché of kissing the ground, but it was hard not to think about it. Their lifeboat had crashed down into a large forested area, if Kowalski didn't know any better he'd have thought they were in some evergreen forest in Oregon back on Earth. Of course the big red gas giant in the sky as well as the fact just looking up gave him a view of another continent miles away from him reminded him that they weren't in Oregon.

Sergeant Taylor didn't like that they were so exposed out here. With no place nearby to take shelter in, they quickly decided to pack up and get moving. It wasn't the best of ideas as the homing beacon on the lifeboat was probably their best chance at rescue. But if they found some kind of structure or natural landmark to bunker down in nearby perhaps any rescue teams would be able to guess where they were hiding. Of course, that relied on them actually finding shelter.

After half an hour of trekking, however, they had found little.

"Does every tree seem the same to you?" Pearson asked out of the blue.

"I'm pretty sure we're doing just fine." Taylor told him. "So long as we aren't seeing Covenant or hearing them we're in the clear."

"That could just mean they are well hidden." Ellingham added as he kept pace behind the Sergeant.

Taylor gave a little exasperated sigh. It was a good point, but perhaps Ellingham should've just kept it to himself. There were at least four other Marines in their group after all and scaring them wasn't going to be very conducive to their efforts.

Samara had taken point, suggesting she had long acquired certain tracking skills which would be helpful. Taylor let her, if only because it wasn't like he had any better ideas. He couldn't really see anything beyond the thick canopy of trees, no one could. It was just forest for miles around.

"I will find us a way to safety." She had promised after they touched down.

Kowalski, for his part, had had faith in her abilities. He didn't think that her biotics somehow gave her all knowing super powers or anything, but he she seemed to know what she was doing, like she had done this too many times before. Justicars, according to her, had to be good trackers, they had root out their targets from wherever they hid and an overwhelming desire to protect the innocent. When she said she'd find them a way out, he believed her. He couldn't help but believe her.

Samara's quickened pace at the front of the group suddenly slowed. She stopped and kneeled towards the forest floor. Taylor and Kowalski were the first to approach her as she moved her hand just above the soil. They could see the outline of a footprint, a rather large one, pressed into the earth. It had two large fingers and a bulging heel.

"The heck is that?" Kowalski asked, confused at the footprint.

"I am unfamiliar with the animals of this universe," Samara reminded him calmly. "But it is fresh, and it moves in that direction."

Samara began to follow the print, cautiously but surely. Kowalski was close behind followed by the other Marines. Only a few minutes into their changed course and the trees began to thin. There was also the sound of rushing water and something grumbling or moaning that was neither Covenant nor human from the sound. No, too big to be either. Before long, the trees gave way to a clearing that was nestled between the treeline and a rocky Cliffside at the back where a waterfall poured down into a small pond that gave way to a creek. The falling torrent of water gave off a brilliant little rainbow as it cascaded down, but that was not what caught the eyes of all who were there.

Drinking from the waterfall's creek bed, were four large yellowish creatures two pronged forelegs and two large spanning hind legs. Their necks were somewhat long, their faces more slender as they shaped along their snouts. They had a stubby little barely existent tail, but it was hardly their most outstanding feature. Running along their backs were three large spikes. One more hooked spike at where neck and shoulders met and two large ones that followed it down the back, the middle the biggest of them all. One of the creatures, its mouth lapping up the creek turned to see the newcomers briefly, dripping water from its mouth. It barely paid them any attention before returning back to its drink.

"Holy crap!" Ellingham said with childish wonder. "Fucking dinosaurs!"

It was a sudden assertion of the facts, one that many were sceptical to buy so easily.

"Uh, wait, can we really call them dinosaurs?" Pearson was quick to ask. "I mean, I don't think that's how evolution works to be honest."

"Looks like a thunder lizard, walks like a thunder lizard," Ellingham rattled off rapidly. "I say it's a dinosaur. Don't ruin my inner-child's sense of nostalgia, Pearson."

Kowalski had to admit the appearance, save for the lack of a giant tail and fewer spikes, was uncannily like that of a stegosaurus. Although amazed by the discovery, few attempted to get near. Yes the animals didn't appear to be hostile, but so did a rhino before it charged. Of course, Samara took the risk. The asari walked forward cautiously at the animal. Again it lifted its head and moved it towards her. She stretched out her hand when she was close enough and carefully touched the tip of the beast's nose. All the massive lumbering lizard-like creature did was stare for a few moments before returning to the watering hole with its fellows. Samara turned back to the other Marines.

"It is alright," she assured "they do not see us as a threat."

The Marines approached cautiously, the creatures continued to ignore them. Out of the trees now they could see the sky more clearly again. Taylor was already looking towards the waterfall's cliff face.

"Maybe if we climb up we can get a better view of the valley." He suggested.

"Don't see any places we can grab onto, Sarge." Pearson said looking at the rock wall.

While some discussed what to do next and others got a quick drink from the creek, Kowalski and Samara kept watch over one of the giant saurian-like beast. A few were leaving the watering hole and moving to graze the various bushes and grasses nearby. Some, however, went to pick at the pine needles on the trees.

"Bet you've seen a lot of funny looking animals in your time." Kowalski said to the asari cheerily.

"Asari over six hundred see many things," she admitted. "but creatures like these are peculiar."

Kowalski gave her a bewildered look.

"Why? Because they should extinct or something?" he chuckled.

"No, they are peculiar because this world is an artificial one." She explained, still sounding serious. "I did not expect we would find much in the way of actual life upon it."

He hadn't thought about that. All he knew was that was staring a pseudo-dinosaur that lived on a ring shaped world. It was hard to keep it all straight when you worried about getting killed by the Covenant who had shot you down. Samara seemed to be a lot more focused than him at least, probably had something to do with her experience.

"How'd you know they wouldn't attack you?" he asked her.

"Truthfully I was not entirely sure." she admitted. "They appeared to be seemingly docile to me at first I suppose. It is most likely they have few natural predators on this ring. Given the nature of the situation it was prudent that I test their docility first. The Code compels us to put ourselves at risk first before innocents."

Kowalski smirked at that. Marines weren't exactly something you'd call innocent.

"That's not exactly what I'd call us to be honest." He laughed. "I mean we're not exactly angels here. Ellingham's got a dirty mind, Pearson is snide jerk half the time... we're named Devil Dogs for a reason."

"Yes, I looked at the source of the nickname." Samara quickly responded. "Your predecessors earned it from their enemies when they refused to surrender the remains of a burned out and destroyed wood. Truthfully I do not understand the human affinity for naming courageous acts after demonic imagery."

Kowalski struggled to find the right words to elaborate on that habit.

"I guess it's our way of demoting them, that we can conquer evil by stealing the labels ourselves or... something." He hastily and sloppily attempted to explain. "I don't know. I wasn't all that great in sociology."

This earned a slight smile from Samara.

"If that is the case, Private Kowalski, perhaps your Marines are more akin to the Justicars than you think." She said. "At least you are in spirit. While you may be a crude group, and certainly not without blood on your hands, I know that none of it is that of innocent blood. The Covenant are a wicked enemy and deserve to be punished for their sins. If you did do anything dishonourable, however, the Code would call for your death."

Well that was a quick mood killer. Kowalski gulped at the slight warning. It wasn't a threat. It was just a statement of fact. One he had almost forgotten about. Samara had long explained there were many aboard the Normandy she'd have probably killed already if it weren't for her oath to Shepard.

Thankfully, Samara added a quick little add on to ease his mind.

"But knowing you, I highly doubt such an event would come to pass." She informed him in her usual regal manner.

Kowalski gave her a bit of an eyebrow at that.

"Do you... just do that to scare people or something?" he asked her in as sincere a manner as he could muster.

Samara shrugged, biting her lower lip a bit as she did.

"Sometimes a Justicar has to find certain ways to amuse herself, admittedly." She responded, trying to remain sounding serious. "There are not many activities we can participate in. The Code implores us to inform those we meet of certain dangers they could encounter. It is a fortunate happenstance to be sure."

He could see a slight smirk on Samara's face at that. He didn't have the chance to call her out on it before he heard a shout from behind.

"Ellingham, get off that thing!"

That was Taylor. Kowalski looked back with Samara to see Ellingham had somehow climbed up on top of one of the creatures. He was clutching to the large central spike, peering into the distance. It didn't seem to mind his presence for it was far too busy grazing to do anything about it. Sergeant Taylor wasn't having any of it though.

"Ellingham, I'm ordering off that thing now!" Taylor shouted up. "This isn't a frickin' rodeo, you can't just ride whatever animal you happen to come across!"

"But Sarge, you wanted a better view of the area!" Ellingham shouted back down. "I can see right over the trees and I think I've spotted something!"

That quickly changed Taylor's tune.

"What is it?" he asked curiously.

"Some kind of blue flare," Ellingham said as he tried to describe the sight. "I don't think its Covenant. It's just going straight up into the sky. It goes off every few seconds. It's over to the... west, I think."

Where was north on a ring planet anyway? Ellingham got around the problem by pointing, but no one got a chance to discuss whether to go towards the flare or not. Before they could weigh their options there was a strange alien howl from the woods. The Four Spike backed animals' behaviour shifted from calm to alert. Within moments their heads all shot up at once and looked towards the sound. In seconds they bolted from the watering hole, picking up speed quickly as they made a dash for the forest.

Everyone had to move to get out of their miniature stampede, Samara and Kowalski especially since they were right beside one of the creatures. The second they saw the thing move, Samara rolled to the side while Kowalski dove for cover. The creature stomped straight past them, stepping on the ground they were standing on only moments before.

The creatures could fit through the densely packed woods, but they didn't hesitate to smash through trees to get away from that watering hole. And leaving with them was an unlucky Marine along for the ride. For when the beasts had panicked, Ellingham had tried to hold onto the spike, instead he flipped off its back, barely missed the first hooked spike on the way down and landed, legs split, on the neck of the now frightened plant-eater.

As he tried to shout 'whoa' and 'stop' through his pained breath, that strange howl called again. Before anyone could ask where it had come from the answer presented itself. Barrelling out of the woods on the opposite side were several smaller creatures, roughly the size of a small human. They had no forearms, but they did have two power three clawed legs and a body that resembled the raptor dinosaurs from those old movies. They had no eyes but their giant heads sported a set of massive terrifying jaws. Their tails swished back and forth and they sniffed the air frantically.

"That is the ugliest looking alien monster I've ever seen." Pearson whispered as he stared at the strange creatures. "And I've seen grunts without their masks."

Every single head in the small pack of vicious looking creatures turned straight towards Pearson and the Marines.

"Oh you and your fucking mouth, Pearson." Kowalski groaned.

The freakish creatures roared in unison with each other, opening their gaping maws.

"Time to go!" Taylor shouted.

He didn't need to repeat the order twice. Every Marine bolted for the treeline, trying to catch up with the giant plodding spike backed creatures and Ellingham. Samara stood her ground momentarily, unleashing a powerful throw blast that knocked the walking mouths into the water. They splashed around in furious recourse, trying to escape with all their might. Samara quickly joined the rest of the Marines in their escape.

True, they could try to shoot the things, their little pack outnumbered them and they weren't about to risk getting eaten alive by those monsters or waste bullets trying to shoot at them point blank. That and they were just downright scary as fuck. For Kowalski he didn't mind running just a little bit. They needed to get to higher ground or at least get some distance from these things first. With any luck maybe they'd lose them and they could save their bullets for the Covenant. Maybe they'd take down one of the four giant spike backs and leave the rest of them alone. Either way, running away just seemed like the better idea for the moment.

* * *

Running away was no longer an option. Not that it had been one in the first place.

"Heads up! Covenant dropship coming in! Over here!"

Private Mendoza's warning caught everyone's attention within seconds. Before he even finished saying "dropship," anyone who could still carry a gun and stand was running to his position at front end of the upper platform. They looked out into the area they had dubbed the 'The Front Yard' and watched as the U-shaped dropship made a pass along their position. It was headed towards the right side of the lifeboat crash site, behind a few sparse trees.

"Didn't take them long to figure out their friends were dead." Garrus observed.

"Hitting them as they get out of the ship is our best chance." Chief told them all. "I'll go right, you go left, Commander."

Chief vaulted the edge of the platform and landed on the ground below with tremendous sound. He barely missed a beat, as if the drop had only been a few meters instead of half a story. Shepard was still wondering if the Spartan had given him an order or a suggestion. Regardless he decided to back him up in whatever he was planning. He took the ramp down though. He didn't want to attempt the same stunt as the Chief and break his leg.

Shepard moved across the open area, past the ODST pods and towards the cover of the downed lifeboat. He could see the Master Chief as he made his own way across the yard. He was already at the treeline, moving among the pines with careful footsteps. Shepard pressed himself against the edge of one of the lifeboats, waiting for the dropship to lower and open its doors. He had a pretty good view of the landing area. With them flanked on both sides perhaps this little defence action would be easier than he thought.

The dropship soon lowered itself to the ground. The hum of its engine was a foreboding sound to be sure. Within seconds of touching down the doors to both sides of the dropship opened wide. The Master Chief was more than ready for it. On his side of the ship were two jackals and a single Elite. While the jackals casually jumped down to the ground, the Elite practically threw himself out of the ship, eager for battle. He'd never get the opportunity to showcase his skills.

The Master Chief had procured a plasma grenade from the fallen of the previous assault. He activated it and tossed the device towards the Covenant officer as he left the ship. The grenade arced perfectly and stuck to the upper torso of the Elite. The look of shock on the alien's face was soon engulfed by a brilliant blue flash. The jackals nearby crouched under their shields as soon as they saw what had hit their supposedly fearless leader. They withstood the blast, backing away as it pummeled their shields. To the Chief it didn't matter, he could handle these two easily.

The explosion was Shepard's call to action. At the same time the grunts on the other side of the dropship had piled out. The explosion spooked them and made them run forward, guns out and ready but screaming like mad. It never seemed fair to Shepard to attack these guys, maybe it was their squeaky voices. He was instantly reminded how little his pity mattered when he stepped out of cover and made himself the focal point of their panicked dash. They hobbled sideways as fast they could, firing plasma bolts and needles as they did. Shepard's barriers took a few hits, something he couldn't afford. He quickly sent out a pull attack to drag one of the grunts into the air. He fired two shots from his pistol, taking out the struggling gas sucker.

Shepard made a dash after the remaining grunts. They immediately began to run backwards, knowing best not to bite off more than they could chew. Shepard biotic charged forward through their ranks however, taking out the furthest grunt with ease. As the Covie fell back to earth, broken and battered, his friends made a run for it in the opposite direction. Shepard finished them off with two clean shots to the back of their heads as he peered through the scope.

The Master Chief in the meantime dealt with the jackals. They protected themselves from his assault rifle as he charged up the hill. Their shields easily absorbed the bullets. They fired back with their plasma pistols in rapid bursts, but the Spartan powered through them, even as his shields began to flare.

The jackals began to back up as the Spartan closed in, but he was too quick for them. One tried to bash the Spartan with his shield, only for the human super-soldier to lurch back quickly before delivering a devastating kick to the alien bird's chest. He was sent hurtling into the dirt, while Chief turned to his partner in crime. The jackal wasn't quick enough and as the Chief swung around towards him, the Spartan pressed hard on the trigger. The assault rifle peppered the jackal and he soon lay upon the ground, dead. The one Chief had booted away stood back up defiantly, shield at his side, unable to lift it up.

"First one's still moving!" Cortana shouted in his ear.

Chief quickly turned, bringing out his pistol to fire a single shot into the jackal's head. He plopped on the ground dead. Shepard was just a short few feet away from the dead Jackal, surrounded by dead grunts, but neither would get the chance to compliment the other on their double-pronged attack.

By now the dropship was back in the air and its plasma turret was opening up on them. Streaks of purple plasma struck the ground and both the Master Chief and Commander Shepard ran to cover as the turret chased them. No sense in firing back up at the thing, they had no weapons that could take it down. They ran towards the pair of tubes. The dropship eventually stopped firing and let them be. It flew away into the sky above, leaving its now dead former occupants behind.

"Why doesn't he just stay and try to take us from the air?" Shepard asked the Chief. "He's gotta know we have nothing that can take him down."

"The Covenant aren't very creative." Chief explained "Everything is designed for a specific task and they don't like going out of their comfort zones. And if they really wanted to do that they'd just send in a banshee."

"My guess is that they don't really consider us a threat." Cortana added to the conversation. "We're a small fire-team that's cut-off with no support. They can take their time, even if it costs them men."

So they were toying with them, Shepard hated it when the enemy was like that. No wonder the Inquisitor wanted them to replace the Collectors. They already acted like their own people were disposable. Sure enough, they sent in more meat to the grinder rather quickly.

"Another dropship is coming in!" Mendoza yelled aloud over the radio. "Left side!"

"Reposition Marines!" Johnson ordered. "This weird-ass tower is now property of the UNSC and they ain't invited to come on over!"

They were nearby to the next incoming dropship and in perfect position to flank. There was clearer path up the hill through trees to what appeared to be the next landing site.

"Switch sides," Commander Shepard told the Chief. "I'll go right, you go left this time."

Chief just gave a nod and moved to the left back towards the tower structure. Shepard readied his shotgun and set it to cryo-rounds. It didn't take long for the Covenant to land, and this dropship was packed with them. There was a large assortment of grunts accompanied by two jackals and two Elites, certainly a lot stronger than last time.

Most of the grunts raced down one side of the hill as Shepard charged up to meet them. However he was soon spotted by one of the Elites who directed a jackal and two grunts to deal with him. The jackal took position in front of the Elite, acting a shield, while the grunts openly charged the human. Shepard let a throw attack knock the little gas suckers to the ground, the powerful biotic wave sending them flying. He fired up at the jackal with his shotgun as plasma fired rained down upon him from the Elite's rifle. The bursts stung at the shields, bur the cryo rounds from the scimitar seemed to force the jackal back. The Elite saw where this was going and joined his comrades in the assault on the tower. This left the jackal to fend for himself.

"No sense of loyalty, some warrior race." Shepard growled as he fired another burst up at the Jackal.

This one caught the jackal in the arm, freezing it solid in seconds. This was really unfortunate for the jackal considering it was the arm his was holding his gun in. Shepard closed the distance and with one quick smack of his shotgun the jackal's skull caved in. The alien fell dead. Shepard only looked down for a moment before a blue plasma bolt whizzed by his head. He ducked into the cover of a nearby tree. He only got a glimpse of the Elite who had fired it before he continued to run towards the tower with the others.

"There's a whole bunch of bad guys coming your way, Garrus!" Shepard shouted over the comm.

"See them and I'm handling it." Garrus assured him right back.

One Mantis round sounded out, taking apart the head of one of the grunts moving up. A second one cut two of the gas suckers down with a bullet that sliced through one's head and then the other's heart. Garrus smiled a little and moved to his next target.

Down on the ground below, the Master Chief had already engaged the enemy. The first grunt he ran into got his head caved in with the butt of a pistol. The second got a bullet lodged in his brain. They weren't the real threat though. The two remaining Elites and the single jackal were the real danger. The two Covenant officers already had the Spartan in their sights. They opened up with plasma fire, but the Chief's shields held long enough for him to get to cover of a nearby tree. Rolling out and to the side he was now alongside the Elite. He fired a full stream of rounds from his assault rifle and they collided with the shields of the red-armoured Elite. The Elite turned as the bullets struck him and fired on Chief's position. He landed a good shot, bringing the shields down a full third, but that was hardly enough to stop him.

Chief jumped up from his kneeling stance and charged straight into Elite, slamming him into the metal tubes that arched out of the ground. He plugged his assault rifle straight into the alien's chest and fired a burst. The Elite screamed and punted the Master Chief off him. He slid across the ground, stopping himself by thrusting his hand into the ground like an anchor. The Elite was bleeding badly and it looked as if the Chief's running charge had broken his shoulder by the way the alien's arm had gone limp.

"Taking plays out of the Commander's book now, are we?" Cortana snarked. "Not as effective without the biotics."

Chief simply brought out his pistol and fired four bullets straight into the wounded Covie. The already strained shields died and the final two bullets did their job. The Elite collapsed to the ground face first.

"Needed a finishing blow." The Spartan responded to Cortana.

"And now you're just trying to show off." The AI chuckled.

A plasma bolt cut across his field of vision and Chief dove back into the cover of the trees. The blue Elite peeked out of his cover behind his rock from up ahead and continued to fire on him. Chief tried to aim, but he didn't have much of a clear shot. He looked up at the tower that was right behind the Elite and not too far away.

"Does anyone have a clear shot on this Elite?" he asked over the comm.

A trail of smoke dashed out from the tower moments later and struck the Elite clean in the back. He was forced out of his cover the concussive blast, pushing him forward and out from the rock.

"All you need do is ask, Master Chief." Garrus said over the comm.

With that the Spartan moved out of cover, his assault rifle held high. He fired a stream of rounds at the Elite, halving his shields. The Elite roared and tried move to higher ground to the left of his position. Instead he was struck by a spark of electricity, again from atop the tower. It drained his shields entirely.

This did not deter the Covenant officer as he tossed a plasma grenade directly at the Master Chief. The Spartan saw the arc and quickly dove forward as the grenade hit the ground where he was moments before. He pulled out his pistol as the grenade exploded and fired everything that was left in the clip at the running Elite. Two of the rounds slammed into the alien's back and fell to the ground dead.

Chief stood up and heard more plasma fire from behind. The final jackal was slowly moving towards his position, but constantly turning back to protect his rear. When the Jackal turned around to fall back, his shield over his head, a shotgun blast struck him and encased his body in ice. Shepard ran out into the open soon after and struck the frozen jackal once with the butt of his weapon.

"Looks like we're clear again." Shepard observed.

That's when the distinctive humming noise appeared once more.

"For about five seconds." Chief quickly added.

The new dropship passed right over the tower this time, heading straight to where Shepard and Chief had entered the valley. Mendoza was quick to point out what everyone was already thinking.

"They're trying to flank us!" he said.

"We beat their asses last time they tried." Johnson declared. "Position yourselves around the ramp Marines, they try to get up we'll bottle neck them in there."

In the meantime both Shepard and the Master Chief made a break for the new landing site. They didn't get too far before they spotted Mordin and Sergeant Buck already taking up positions behind a tree.

"You two get in close while me and 'Doc Frog' keep you covered." Buck told them.

"Would prefer if used 'Professor Frog' for nickname, Sergeant." Mordin interjected. "Proper title. Worked hard for dissertation."

"Fine, 'Professor Frog', whatever." Buck replied, somewhat frantically, he did not want to deal with sematics it seemed. "Deal with ugly hostile alien murderers first, please?"

"Gladly." Concurred Mordin politely.

The salarian turned to the descending dropship and as the doors opened unleashed an incineration blast from his omni-tool that sped towards the enemy occupants. The two poor little grunts inside burst into flames on contact and screamed in agony as the fire overtook them. Their methane tanks exploded shortly after, injuring a third grunt nearby.

"Forces sufficiently halved." Mordin shot off. "Not difficult. Move in, Shepard."

Shepard quickly nodded and rushed forward with the Master Chief while Buck looked on at Mordin's omni-tool anxiously.

"You know where I can get one of those?" he asked. "They seem to do everything for you guys."

"Indeed. Reminds me of first chemistry set." The professor said smiling. "More use against living targets lately, however."

Buck's look of interest turned to one of that appeared disturbed.

"You just... randomly say these things out of nowhere do you?" he asked.

"Thoughts faster than mouth at times." Mordin explained. "Did paper on salarian metabolism's effect on proper-"

"I was not expecting an answer," Buck told him going back to aiming down the sights, "let's just kill us some Covies."

Already, the grunts had swarmed the field, firing barrages of plasma bolts left and right. The Elites directed their underlings alongside them, firing up on the balcony as the Marines tried to get shots off. Their focus remained on Shepard and the Master Chief though. No doubt the Elites had already determined who the greatest threats were by now.

That didn't deter either of them. As Buck and Mordin opened up on the onslaught of Covenant, the focus of the alien marauders was split between the tower, and the two groups on the ground. Shepard used that to their advantage, letting a shockwave tear across the ground towards the grunts. The biotic wave sent them flying and to finish them off Shepard let a pull attack strike one of them as the biotic energies swirled around the methane breathing alien. The biotic detonation left the remaining grunts dazed or completely devastated.

Buck fired into the expanse of Covenant soldiers, the spray of his submachine gun cutting the grunts down one by one. The Elites remained behind their cannon fodder for the most part, avoiding gun fire where they could and letting their shields absorb the rest. By now the dropship had risen into the skies as well and had opened fire on the defenders below. The Marines on top of the tower scattered. Shepard and the Master Chief were forced to take cover as the purple plasma rained down on them. Eventually the dropship took off, leaving the Elites and what few grunts remained to fend for themselves, but the brief reprieve gave them time to recover.

Shepard took cover behind one of the trees nearby as the plasma scorched the bark. Branches and pine needles fell all around him as he changed magazines in his pistol. Chief remained out in the open, firing on the grunts as he moved across the field.

"This isn't going so well!" Shepard called out to the Spartan. "Toss a grenade, I got a plan!"

The Master Chief obliged and threw out a frag-grenade into the mess of Covenant. The Elites easily rolled away while the grunts ran. While the resulting explosion did little to harm the Covenant, it did separate the Elites and distort their focus. That gave the Commander his opportunity.

Shepard biotically charged forward, aiming straight for the Elite on left. The strike knocked him against the side of the tower. Angered, the Elite struck out with his plasma rifle as a melee weapon. Shepard side stepped the attack and let loose a powerful biotic punch that sent the Elite hurtling away. He was headed for a collision with the Master Chief as the Spartan raised his arm up to deliver a powerful blow to the alien's skull. The Elite slammed into the dirt with a terrible crunch before the Spartan stepped on his neck and sprayed a blast of bullets into his torso. He looked up and saw the remaining grunts. They stared briefly at the corpse of the Elite and then at Chief. Suddenly they screamed in absolute terror and ran for their little lives.

"He's gonna kill us all!" Cried out one of the cowardly gas breathers.

"Leader dead! Run away! Run a-way!" Another shouted.

"Little people first!" One screamed out in response to that statement.

Buck fired after the grunts as they fled and the Marines up top joined in. Chief and Shepard let them go, the others could clean them up. The last Elite was the real danger. Currently he was over to their right screaming incoherently at his fleeing expendable soldiers. He even fired at a few of them himself, even as they were cut down by the Marines or Sergeant Buck. He then turned to Shepard and the Master Chief and unloaded his plasma rifle at them. The two ducked for cover in the rocks as the Elite's weapons blasted out plasma bolts at a rapid rate.

Suddenly the weapon stopped firing, smoke poured from its orifices and the enraged Elite struggled to force it work once again. The Elite had seemingly lost his sense of composure as he didn't even let the weapon just cool down before using it again. He impatiently tossed it aside and pulled out his plasma sword. With a bloodcurdling battle cry he charged forward towards the rocks, his blade held high. Shepard and Chief fired at him as he approached, but they stopped suddenly. The Elite would too moments later, as an electrical pulse struck his back. The attack shocked his nervous system to the core and his hands clenched together tightly. A pistol shot sounded out the next second and he collapsed to the ground dead, a giant bullet wound in his skull, the exit wound coming out of his eye socket. Standing over him was Professor Mordin, omni-tool in one hand and a Carnifex pistol in the other.

"Nice work, Mordin." Shepard congratulated.

"No trouble." Mordin assured. "Faced blood-raging krogan in STG. Far more aggressive. Needed more than single shot and heavier calibre of weapon than this."

"Let's just be glad that Elites don't regenerate then." Shepard added as he walked out from behind the rocks.

With the attack routed, Buck returned to the field. He joined Shepard, Mordin and the Master Chief near the clump of rocks.

"I took them all down to be safe but I don't think they were gonna come back either way." Buck told them. "So you think that's all of them?"

"Unfortunately no, Sergeant." Cortana cut in in a grave tone of voice. "I've already detected more dropships coming in. Looks like another full frontal assault."

From how Cortana sounded, there was more to it than that.

"How many ships Cortana?" Chief asked.

"Two are coming in fast," she warned "and my guess is they're loaded for bear. They're not the concern though. Bigger target if the sensors are right, probably a Phantom. I think they've grown tired of a lack of air support."

That meant more Covenant. And probably something worse if a Phantom was coming in. Shepard switched his shotgun to inferno rounds. He looked to the others as he heard the humming of the dropships getting closer.

"We got a plan, Commander?" Buck asked.

"Yeah, basically try not end up like the guys at the Alamo." He said, trying his best to lighten the mood and failing.

"Davey Crockett never had to worry about flying saucers I think." Cortana said anxiously. "Then again he didn't have mass altering powers or automatic weaponry, so maybe we have better odds after all.

"That's the spirit, Cortana." Shepard told the AI jovially. "Let's get into position. We ain't done yet."

* * *

Kowalski was surprised that these things were still after them. For not having eyes, they seemed to know exactly where they were going. They probably had some kind of super smell-o-vision or something that kept them from running into trees or losing their prey. It made the situation even more absurd. Here he was running from an armless, eyeless mouth with legs and tail and the mouth was actually catching up. These things would almost be comical if they weren't so damn terrifying and persistent.

But no Marine would be worth his salt if he let himself be outrun by a mutant alien dinosaur. They zigged and zagged through the foliage and trees, never running straight for too long if they could help it. They didn't want them catching up. Every once in awhile one of the group fired back on the creatures before continuing to run, no one could be sure if any of the bullets hit, but they were hoping to scare them away.

Samara was more successful in holding them back. She remained at the back of the group, sending out biotic throws to push the creatures back. They always seemed to get back up though, or there were just more to replace them, who could tell. Point was the efforts slowed down the pack of predators a bit, and that was helpful.

Before long they had eventually caught up with the small herd of the spiked back creatures. That meant in turn they had caught up with Ellingham, who was still clutching onto his unwanted mount for dear life. He had no idea why these things running, Kowalski tried to keep pace with the rampaging beast to fill him in. It was hard though over the tremendous thundering footsteps of the spiked creatures. Kowalski got around it by firing up into the air with his pistol, drawing the attention of his friend and making him look back.

"The hell is going on?!" he screamed at Kowalski.

How Ellingham expected him to know anymore than he did, Kowalski wasn't sure. But considering they and the spike backs were running it was probably easy enough to figure out they were running from something. Kowalski just pointed to his back to show Ellingham exactly what that was. Sure enough just a few behind, clawing and leaping through the trees, were a few members of the eyeless sharp-toothed mouths on legs chasing after them.

"Oh fuck all kinds of duck!" Ellingham groaned.

The creatures kept on their course and Kowalski was forced to duck low as one jumped clean over him. Thankfully it seemed that the creatures weren't after him, they were going for the big meal, namely Ellingham's spike backed friend. Kowalski kept trying to keep pace with the chase and watched as the toothy maws of the monsters kept biting at the giant beast's heels. The spike back stomped and thrusted it's back legs at the creatures, trying to get them to leave it alone.

One of the mouthed monsters jumped up and snapped its jaws tightly around the flesh of the beast. A groan of pain sounded from Ellingham's ride and try as it might the beast couldn't shake the predator. That's when it aimed towards a tree and slammed its body into it as it ran. The blind carnivore slammed into the tree and was ejected from its prey's backside, trailing the blood and flesh it had bitten off.

Kowalski jumped to the side just as the sightless creature slammed hard into the forest floor right where he stood. The Marine ate dirt and scrambled to sit up, only to see five or so hungry looking little monsters sniffing him down. One charged to attack, when a bullet struck it clean in the brain. Pulling him to his feet from behind was Sergeant Taylor, pistol in hand.

"On your feet, Marine!" he ordered. "Devil Dogs aren't on the menu today!"

Kowalski kept pace with Taylor and saw Ellingham on his spike backed beast once more. He finally had enough courage to sit up straight on the thing. Kowalski watched in as Ellingham swivelled himself on top of the beast, and to everyone's surprise the beast responded by moving in the direction the Marine pivoted. Ellingham directed the creature away from the trees and into a more open area. When the moment was right he jumped down, landing in a heap, but at least not smacking straight into a tree. Kowalski and Taylor rushed over and got him to his feet quickly.

"How the hell did you know that was gonna work?" Kowalski asked.

"Honest to God I was winging it." He proclaimed.

There was the growl of several more of the blind creatures as they bounded up the path. The Marines decided to hold the conversation elsewhere and ran in the opposite direction of the herd. With any luck the sight deprived monsters would keep going after the main course instead of them. Sadly, they didn't need to look back to know they were still being chased after. They could hear the quick-witted feet right behind.

They soon found the other Marines along with Samara. They were huddled around a set of trees and logs as a makeshift defence against the creatures. Everyone had their guns pointed at the forest, ready to kill whatever members of the pack had gone after them.

"Whites of their eyes, sir?" Pearson asked offhandedly as Taylor vaulted over the log and joined them on the firing line.

"Don't get cheeky with me, Pearson." Taylor warned. "You were the one who got their attention in the first place, remember?"

Kowalski took position beside Samara, who already her assault rifle at the ready.

"A singularity should be able to concentrate most of them into a confined area." She told him. "Concentrate your fire there."

"No problem." Kowalski said. "You set'em up, I'll knock'em down."

The creatures were now in sight and bounding up towards their position. They prepared to open up with everything they had, decimate the entire pack if they had to. One of the beasts opened its maw wide as it rushed in, aiming directly for the Kowalski as far as he was concerned.

Then, all of a sudden, a shot rang out and the head of the creature just exploded. It fell limp to the ground and another powerful shot rang out, striking near another of the beasts. The creatures finally gave pause, stopped their charge and looked at their dead pack member. Deciding this meal was not worth the risk, they turned back, running back down the path.

The Marines and Samara looked on astonished.

"Well that ended abruptly." Ellingham noted. "Who fired that?"

Everyone looked to each other but no one claimed credit. Samara looked back towards where she thought the shot had come from and pointed up at the tree.

"There." She told everyone.

They all turned suddenly to see a smoking gun peering out of the tree branches. Lurching out of the pine needles was not a human face, but one that sported a big old flashlight.

"Samara-Justicar," Legion said staring down at the Asari. "Are you uninjured?"

"Yes Legion, thank you for the timely placed sniper shot." Samara nodded politely.

"You and the other organics appeared to be in need of assistance." Legion replied. "We were more than willing to help. We must retreat to a secure location. Come with us."

Legion jumped down from the pine and motioned them all to follow. As if they had a choice. It was either the robot assassin or the alien dinosaurs again. Right now, Kowalski preferred the robot with the gun and an actual eye.

* * *

Plasma burned the steel of the ODST pods as Shepard kept himself crouched to the ground. The jackals ducked in and out of the trees, keeping their shields up high, and they were only a third of the problem. The second dropship had come down over the hill to the left and the Covenant were already piling out, about to flank their position.

And then there was the Phantom, hovering over the battlefield while every gun aboard blasted away at their position. It only had a few extra jackals and grunts aboard, but what it carried under it was the real danger. Moments after arriving it had dropped a Revenant, the Covenant's light assault craft. It may have only been a single vehicle, but it was enough to cause problems. It pelted their area with red plasma blasts that it lobbed through the air. Everyone was forced to stay down whenever they heard the cry of an incoming shot. One landed just feet away from the pod Shepard was using for cover.

"So much for hoping they'd get bored with trying to kill us and leave." Shepard thought aloud to himself.

Mordin was taking shelter behind the pod next to Shepard. He took a few momentary peeks out into the yard, only to reel back when needles came rushing towards him. As the purple shards stuck themselves into the side of the pod, Mordin turned to Shepard.

"Ground forces pushing forward." he informed the Commander. "Most pressing problem is air support. Any defence problematic as long as it remains."

"We'll handle it when the time comes, Mordin." Shepard promised. "Right now just focus on their ground assault and stick to the plan."

The jackals and grunts pushed forward into the front yard unopposed, thinking this mission was all but wrapped up. But they were in for a shock. Waiting in between the arcing tubes on the left side of the yard was the Master Chief and Sergeant Buck. On top of the smaller block platform to the right, were Sergeant Johnson and Garrus. They had kept out of sight for the most part, but the second Covenant horde charged into the kill-zone they opened up.

Chief and Buck opened up, both throwing a single frag grenade into the mix. They landed at the feet of a grunt and a jackal respectively. The twin blasts ripped the aliens to shreds and with that every gun cut into the Covenant. Garrus lined up a shot with a jackal's head as he scurried about trying to find his bearings. The bird-alien collapsed to the ground, twirling slightly before landing on his stomach. One of the grunts saw the sniper shot and directed the others in his little squad to fire back. Garrus ducked into cover as plasma bolts struck against the steel.

"Well they got their focus back quickly." Garrus observed.

"Ugly little midgets aren't as dumb as they look, trust me on that." Johnson warned, but he didn't sound that serious. He then added, "They are the first run away when they see the Marines after all. That is the smart reaction."

With a chuckle Johnson moved out of cover and fired a full magazine of rounds down into the Covenant forces. He cut through two grunts easily and a jackal before he could get his shield around to protect himself. The Sergeant jumped down from the platform and into the fight proper. Another Jackal charged at him, but he kicked him in the shield, knocking him down before plugging him with a burst from his rifle.

"Respect the Corps you ugly sons of bitches!" he cried out.

Garrus stayed in his position and covered Johnson. A man like that needed a good sniper covering his back. Garus fired another shot, blowing off the head of another grunt as it tried to fire a fully charged plasma pistol at the Marine.

Luckily for Johnson he wasn't the only person on the field. Mordin and Shepard had jumped out from their cover. An inferno blast set ablaze three grunts as they made their way up the field. Mordin took careful aim with his pistol, popping the heads of three Jackals one after the other. One shot to their gun arm and another to their heads took them down relatively quick and had proven the most effective way of neutralizing them. Shepard let a Shockwave ripple across the ground, knocking a number of grunts into the air.

By now the Elite that had been aboard the dropship had charged onto the field with a pack of jackals and grunts following him. Shepard was surprised, an Elite that led from the front. That was something new for once. Then again maybe he just had confidence in the plan, that and perhaps the arcing red ball of plasma heading their way.

"Pull back to the tower!" Shepard ordered as he fired off his shotgun towards the Elite.

Johnson was the first to oblige, although he never turned away from the field of battle. He kept looking on, firing into the alien hordes as he backed away. Mordin followed, running with Shepard back to the ODST pods and then the tower as the giant flaring red ball of plasma collapsed down on their position.

Chief and Buck, who had been firing into the Covenant for this long, pulled away from the fight as well. They ran along the little artificial canyon the tubes made and out the other side. They arrived just in time to see the flanking Covenant from the second dropship passing the exit. A single Jackal, with his shield turned in the opposite direction from them, signalled that the Covenant were closing their noose. Chief pulled out his pistol, stuck it into the Jackal's head, and pressed down on the trigger. With the alien's brains blown out, Buck exited the tubes first and opened up on the Covenant attackers, taking cover behind a rock.

"We got to keep them from getting to the back of the tower!" Buck shouted aloud over the sound of his submachine gun.

Chief simply joined the ODST and strafed along the breath of the incoming Covenant. He tossed a grenade into their ranks as he did, successfully killing at least three grunts in the resulting explosion. Meanwhile, Buck kept his eyes glued to his gun's sights. He fired individual bursts at each incoming jackal's shields, again, where their hands were uncovered. He popped their heads, one by one, as they lowered their protections and allowed him a clean, easy headshot. But once the two Elites appeared it was time to fall back.

Garrus in the meantime had stayed in his position and shifted his focus to the Revenant. It was driven by, interestingly enough, a grunt. Not something Garrus suspected, but it made things easier. He got a lock on the driver's head through the trees and fired. The grunt slumped out of his seat and the Revenant collapsed onto the ground.

"Mine now." Garrus muttered to himself as he jumped down from the platform.

The Phantom, in the meantime, continued to fire upon the tower and the retreating humans. It began to slowly inch forward. It was going to strafe them from above soon enough. Its grunt gunners fired forwards as the Elites and their remaining forces advanced.

Buck ran up the ramp at the back of the tower with Chief in tow.

"Elites at the back door!" he warned.

"I got the front covered," Shepard told the others as he stood next to the front-side ramp. "You keep our backs clean!"

The Marines repositioned somewhat, leaving Shepard, Johnson and Mordin to face to large group of bad guys coming up the ramp. The Elite was still leading the charge and few of the grunts and jackals remained on the ground to side.

"You take them when I get him off the ramp." Shepard told Mordin and Johnson.

With that, Shepard let loose a powerful shockwave that sped down the ramp. The Elite was knocked off, although when he landed on the ground he didn't seem all that injured. The same could not be said for what few forces had followed him up. They fell or were thrown down the ramp and became easy prey for Johnson and Mordin to fire upon.

Shepard now charged down smacking into the Elite as he tried to get up. The Covenant Officer was thrown into an ODST pod, but he still stood tall. Shepard fired two shots from his shotgun at point blank at the alien, but he just tucked and rolled away. The Elite then slashed at Shepard's face, missing him by inches, before kicking the Commander to the ground.

Grunts and Jackals surrounded Shepard now, and there wasn't much choice in what he had to do. He raised his fist, charged with biotic power, and slammed it into the ground, unleashing a powerful Nova blast. It sent the nearby Covenant flying and the forced the Elite to dig his claws into the ground to keep himself from being flung further across the ground. Shepard rushed over to the Elite and fired two inferno rounds from his shotgun straight into the alien's backside as he tried to stand up. That finished the job nicely.

It did not stop the two Elites from getting up onto the tower though. The Marines fell back as the Covies pushed their way up, their shields damaged but still very capable of fighting. They growled at the humans, muttering alien curses as they stared them down. Chief merely punched the first one square in the face, forcing him to stumble backwards. Then he fired the rest of his magazine into him, killing his shields and then forcing him to fall clean off the side of the tower.

He couldn't confirm the kill, for there was a second Elite who body-checked the Spartan into the tower's dividing wall. The Elite took aim with his plasma rifle to finish the Spartan, but Sergeant Buck ran up, slashed into his side with his knife and then stuck it into the alien's leg. The Elite was in pain, but not dead. It growled as it pulled out the knife and tossed it aside.

"Yeah, should've gone for the neck." Buck grumbled, pulling up his submachine gun. "Not my smartest move."

The Elite fired his plasma rifle, but Buck dove backward and let off a stream of rounds that trailed up the Elite's chest and then struck him in the eye. The Elite stumbled back, clutching at his injury with his hand. Chief got back up and punched him hard in the back of the skull. The Elite finally crumpled to the ground.

The Spartan walked over and pulled Sergeant Buck to his feet.

"Nice shot." He told the ODST.

"Got lucky," Buck responded humbly. "What about the first one though?"

Chief looked back and the saw the rest of the Marines firing repeatedly down at the ground below. They didn't stop until they had to change magazines.

"I think he's dead now." Mendoza called over to the two. "He ain't moving."

"Ah, shoot him like a dozen more times just to be sure." Buck suggested with a bit of a smile.

More plasma fire rocked the tower suddenly. The Phantom had closed in on the structure, forcing everyone nearby ran to cover. They piled behind the dividing wall of the strange flaring device as plasma rained down on them from the Phantom. They joined the Master Chief and Buck in huddling down.

"It's gonna come around. You guys know that right?" Bisenti asked them all.

"We just need to take out the guns and we'll be okay." Shepard replied.

"Not gonna be easy to land a plasma grenade on that big gun they have in the nose." Buck noticed.

The Phantom began to peer around the edge of the tower. Its grunt gunners prepared to take aim. Then the Phantom was suddenly rocked from a red plasma blast. The Phantom turned around, its gunners picking out a new target, the commandeered Revenant now piloted by Garrus.

"Little high, better aim lower." Garrus observed.

He aimed at the undercarriage and fired, sending a powerful stream of red hurtling towards the Phantom. It struck the middle of the Phantom instead, killing both of the grunt gunners as the plasma exploded inside the aircraft. Their little bodies were thrown from the dropship and smacked into the ground.

But the Phantom still had its big automated gun and unloaded it on the Revenant. Garrus fired another shot as he moved the little assault craft back. This time the blast struck the cockpit and the Phantom shuddered once more. But it did nothing to stop the relentless barrage of plasma from its cannon. The Revenant took excessive damage and Garrus jumped from the vehicle before one of the shots caught him. The Revenant was soon after demolished by the plasma blasts as Garrus rolled from the doomed vehicle.

The Phantom now took aim at Garrus proper, ready to finish him off. The turian was prepared to make a dash for safety, the smaller structure was nearby. He could make it, maybe, if his luck held out. But as the Phantom charged its gun, two missiles sped out of the sky and struck it. There was a burst of flame and then a blinding flash as the entire Phantom blew up, flaming debris fell from the sky. Garrus looked up to where the missiles had come from and saw a familiar and welcomed sight. The SSV Normandy, flying low and slow through the sky above.

"Damn I love that ship." He grinned up at the frigate.

Something else crested the horizon with the Normandy, a Pelican dropship. It was carrying a warthog as cargo on its back-end. A voice cracked over the radio as everyone ran into the field alongside Garrus.

"This is Pelican Echo 419. Anybody read me?" Asked a calm, yet bold, voice over the comm. "Repeat: Any UNSC personnel respond."

Cortana was very eager to speak up on behalf of the survivors.

"Roger, Echo 419, this is Fire Team Charlie. We read you. Is that you Foe Hammer?" she asked the Pelican pilot.

"Affirmative," replied Foe Hammer in kind. "I didn't expect to hear from you, Cortana. Does that mean..."

"Yes, I'm with the Master Chief right now," Cortana confirmed. "as well as Commander Shepard and some of his crew. Can you patch us into the Normandy?"

"Way ahead of you, Cortana." Foe Hammer replied.

Shepard put his finger to his ear as the Normandy circled about overhead.

"Commander, we were starting to get worried." Miranda's voice spoke up. "I hope we weren't keeping you waiting too long."

"No trouble at all, Lawson." Shepard assured, still sounding rather serious as he spoke to her. "Give me a headcount, who got on board?"

Miranda was quiet for a moment before answering.

"Jacob managed to get a Pelican off the _Autumn_." She began. "I assume his group is with him. We got several dozen Marines and Troopers off the ship before we disembarked. Jun and Linda are with us."

Shepard looked to the Master Chief with a simple look. He wasn't sure if the Spartan was relieved to hear his teammate was alive, but something told him he was. The way he looked up at the Normandy was a giveaway. But Miranda had bad news as well.

"We... couldn't wait for Joker." She explained.

Shepard's head sagged at that unfortunate fact.

"He probably got to an escape pod." Shepard assured. "He's around here somewhere. We'll keep looking for him and the rest of our team. Have you been able to contact any of them?"

"No," Miranda informed him. "We are getting a few potential lifeboat beacons to the west of here. They could be there."

Shepard wondered if there could there actually be a west on a place with no actual pole or concept of south. He figured he'd let it slide, he'd discuss proper terminology later.

"Then you see about that cluster while I hitch a ride with Chief back to command." Shepard ordered her. "With any luck we can organize another search party for the others and..."

There was a sudden rushing sound through the air high above. Everyone looked on high to see two blazing trails of fire rushing through the clouds. They were more lifeboats, two to be exact, they had only just broken the atmosphere from the looks of it.

"When those lifeboats come down the Covenant are going to be right on top of them." Cortana warned everyone.

Shepard looked at Chief, but his decision was already made. He still felt like he needed his approval. The Chief just nodded.

"Lawson, disengage the Hammerhead." He ordered. "I'm gonna need a ride."

Cortana contacted Foe Hammer again over the radio.

"Foe Hammer, we're going to need your Warthog." Cortana explained. "Me, the Master Chief and the Commander Shepard are going to see if we can save some soldiers. You transport the survivors to safety in the meantime."

The Pelican came in for a landing as the Normandy sped by and let the hammerhead drop from the cargo doors. The Pelican touched down and let the Warthog drop to the ground.

"Here's you Hog, Cortana." Foe Hammer said jovially. "Saddle up and give them hell."

Garrus gave Shepard a little shake of his head as they moved to secure the hammerhead.

"So much for getting out of here soon, huh?" he asked.

"You're just angry because now you have to suffer my driving aren't you?" Shepard asked in return.

"That's part of it I guess." The turian admitted.

* * *

They didn't have to walk very far to get to where Legion wanted them to go. The woods soon opened up into a clearing where a large tower that shot out a blue light was embedded into the side of a cliff. A lifeboat was not too far away from the tower close to a clump of rocks. Nearby the lifeboat was the scarred familiar face Zaeed Massani, checking over his assault rifle. When he spotted Legion, Samara and the group of Marines approach he walked towards them.

"Legion said there was a lifeboat beacon nearby, didn't think you'd be on it, Justicar." He greeted.

"Hello Massani," Samara replied. "We did not expect to find you or Legion either. Is there anyone else with you?"

"Just the Krogan and two other Marines." Zaeed answered.

In fact, Grunt and the two Marines were quickly running up to the new group. Kowalski was the first to figure out who they were as they got closer.

"Holy shit! Ramirez and Agley! You're not dead!" he said with delighted surprise.

"Great, now I owe Tubbs a fiver." Pearson grumbled.

"HA!" came a laugh that could only be Private Tubbs.

Ramirez didn't seem to mind the betting pool comment, letting it drop as he explained what had happened after they got off the _Autumn_. His landing hadn't been any better than theirs, but at least they had found shelter.

"We thought the air brakes were gonna snap half-way down." he began. "But luckily we haven't seen hide nor hair of the Covenant since we got off the _Autumn_. That gave us time to fortify our position here a bit. "

"Well the Covenant can't be completely avoiding this area. They must know we're here." Sergeant Taylor reasoned. "Maybe they're stretched a little thin, could be a sign that a lot of people made it off the _Autumn_."

"For all the good it does." Zaeed spoke up. "We still don't have a way to link up with them. Legion has been trying to boost our beacon's signal with DOT's help. Something about redirecting the signal through the platform's systems, other than that we got no means of contacting anyone on our position."

Samara turned to Legion with concern.

"How far did you manage to get the signal's range?" she asked.

"Double the current output." Legion answered. "Program DOT warns that any higher frequency signal risks being picked up by Covenant."

"Then we hold out here until rescue arrives." Samara reasoned.

Kowalski wasn't going to argue with that, better than wandering back out into the wilderness of this strange ring world. Everyone else seemed to be in agreement. They had already encountered alien dinosaurs, who knew what else was out there. They weren't here to start exploring. Their job was to get back into the fight. With any luck, help was coming, and soon.

* * *

Chief's moved his head back and forth a bit as he shifted in his seat. The Warthog had stopped dead in its tracks in front of what looked to be a large open hole in the middle of the rock.

"What you think, Cortana?" he asked.

"Well this is cave definitely not a natural formation." Cortana stated aloud. "So someone built it, which means it must lead somewhere."

"Bit obvious isn't it?" Chief asked once more, trying not to sound condescending.

"You asked the question." Cortana replied haughtily. "Besides, the lifeboats were headed past this ridge and I don't see any way over that giant wall of rock so we need to head through. And this is the only way from the looks of it."

Buck chuckled in his seat a bit as he sat beside the Spartan.

"Your little AI is a feisty one ain't she?" he asked the Chief.

The Spartan didn't respond, not out of disrespect but because he honestly had no response to give. He instead looked over to the hammerhead, parked right beside him.

"You sure about coming with us, Commander?" Chief asked.

"If my people are out there than there's no real question about it. Me, Garrus and Mordin are along for the ride." Shepard replied over the radio.

"And my squad's other pods are in this area." Buck added. "I'm not leaving without them."

Chief looked back to the lone Marine who sat atop the machine gun turret. He had come with the Warthog, he just gave a thumbs up. So it was settled, through the cave it was. They sped through the opening tunnel, the Warthog leading while the Hammerhead trailed behind. Chief was somewhat glad Shepard had come along with his hovercraft. It was armed with missiles and that would definitely prove handy if they ran into more Phantoms or something worse. Cortana offered something just as, if not even more handy.

"While we were fighting them I managed to hack into the Covenant battlenet." She explained, although not sounding all that proud of her accomplishment which was odd. "That confirms it, they must be the source of static if they're unaffected while UNSC channels are blocked unless in close proximity."

"You sure they can't track your hack back to us?" Buck asked the AI.

"No Sergeant, I don't think so. They're actually transmitting over open channels." Cortana explained in disbelief. "They don't think we're capable of listening in, so they won't bother to look. We should show them who we're dealing with."

"That's the plan, Cortana." Chief assured as they sped into the darkness of the tunnel. "That's the plan."

* * *

AN: The Halo level has been split into two chapters because I realised it was going to be long otherwise. Again, expect this to happen a lot considering our cast size. I wanted to at least get one of them up before Christmas, so here we are. I think of this chapter as Halo in a nutshell, hopelessly outgunned, stranded on a mysterious alien world, hunted by your adversaries and vicious monsters. Although I'm pretty sure none of you expected to see a Dinosaur chase straight out of the Discovery Channel when you started reading this. More on that in the profile page.

Two announcements, before regarding names. I have finally decided upon a proper name to encapsulate this series. Thanks in part to ever so patient editor Crow T R0bot who actually gave me the name idea. Both Tomorrow and Sparks are now part of "The Wormhole Chronicles," which was the least generic and appropriately name I could decide upon. Again, thank you Crow for being my outside the box thinker on that.

Finally, we have a new Covie Husk! YAY! Even better, I'm giving you all the chance to name it! I have three name ideas for you to choose from:

-Imps

-Spitfires

-Demon Spawn

I like all three, so write in your choice via your reviews or a PM and the one with the most votes will be the name of our new Covie Husk. And look for more Covenant Husks on the way, including a few new variants of the Hunters, who being giant worm colonies present so many great opportunities. Thanks for reading and have a Merry Christmas!


	6. Reunion Tour

Chapter 5: Reunion Tour

The darkness surrounded them as they hobbled along the metal floor. How deep exactly were they in the bowels of The Ring? Why did they have to patrol? Why didn't they just go up to the surface? They would've asked these questions, but they didn't want to be punished for it. So the little band of unggoys just did what they were told. At least the sangheili weren't ordering them to stay in one place. They were allowed to walk around and actually put some distance between themselves and the kig-yar who relentlessly bullied them. In any case, the best part of any of this was that they didn't have to fight.

So they patrolled back and forth between both sides of the raised metal road. It wasn't a very difficult assignment. They didn't have much reason to complain. They just had to watch an archway that stretched up to the ceiling for some reason. The only downside was the lack of any sun and the pervasive dark. They didn't like the dark all that much. Too many things could sneak up on you in the dark. They tried to stay as close to what little ambient light that was nearby, hoping it would alert them to danger. Then again, what danger? They had been down here for most of the morning and nothing had happened. As they made their way towards the arch along their patrol vector they expected nothing new to happen.

Then they heard the terrible growling sound of an engine. The third unggoy at the back of the little patrol turned around just in time to see a light illuminating the darkness. It turned out they were headlights aimed straight for him. The terrible strike of the Warthog's bumper against his skull killed him instantly and his two fellows scampered to get out of the way. One dove to the side, only for a dozen some odd bullets to cut him down as he fell. The third and final unggoy was struck by the back bumper as the Warthog made a hard right turn in the middle of its dash. He was flung several feet before sliding against the metal road, blood trailing from his broken body, joining his comrade in the eternal darkness that fell over him.

Their deaths warned the Covenant on the other side of the road that the enemy had arrived at last and they all sprang into action. Kig-yar ran up to their positions among a pair of large metal cubes sticking out the ground. The unggoy scampered forward, shooting at the human vehicle even as the Marine gunner unloaded thousands of rounds per minute on them. The Warthog continued to move to give the gunner a better angle against the incoming targets, but the passenger in the front seat had jumped out to press forward. His submachine gun rattled as he added his own bullets to the barrage. The unggoy fell before his counter-charge and the machine gun on the back of the Warthog turned to the kig-yar. It pelted their position, forcing them to crouch down and hold out against the ceaseless attack.

It was then a new sound filled the air, one that similar to the sound of their vehicles. With a sense of hope, the kig-yar looked towards the tunnel entrance. His wish went ungranted as flying out of the dark came something that hovered much like their ghosts or wraiths but bore no resemblance to any of them. The sleek white pointed hovering craft fired a destructive salvo of missiles on their little position. There was nothing their shields could do against that kind of firepower. They could only run, but they weren't nearly fast enough for it to matter.

As the explosions devastated the forward defenders, the two vehicles rolled up to the mess of machinery and pillars that served to protect those who remained. A single sangheili tried to direct their defences, but it seemed useless. No sense in dying whimpering though, at least in his mind it seemed, as he ordered his Covenant brothers to die standing against the infidels.

The Warthog's passenger, clad in full dark body armour grabbed onto the four-wheeled vehicle as it passed by him. He propped himself up in the seat and fired on the enemy as they drove forward. He caught a kig-yar in his head as he tried to retreat. The hovercraft in the meantime bombarded the area with a never-ending hail of missiles from its turret. One after the other, the Covenant troopers were blown from their hiding places as the explosions ripped through their ranks. Those who tried to flee were cut down by the Warthog's chain gun.

The sangheili officer managed to escape the missiles, making his way alongside the invading vehicles. He fired his plasma rifle at the Warthog, intending to land a lucky shot on the driver as he hid behind a pillar. It only got the attention of the driver who immediately turned towards the Covie and floored it. The sangheili backed towards the ramp that he thought would get him out of harm's way, but like the kig-yar he just wasn't fast enough. The Warthog crushed him between the bumper and the back wall.

As the elite fell dead against the hood, the Warthog backed away to let his body drop to the floor. The Master Chief stepped out of the driver's seat to observe the area. He looked back towards the giant arch-way and the massive gap between them and the other side of this underground tunnel. Unless the Warthog suddenly sprouted wings they were cut off from the other lifeboats.

"That got pretty messy." Sergeant Buck said as he stepped out of the Hog and joined the Chief by his side. "Still don't see a switch for the bridge though. If there is one."

Chief looked to the ramp and pointed to it with a simple nod.

"They wouldn't make a dead end tunnel." He reasoned. "It's probably up there."

The Hammerhead pulled up behind the Warthog as the Spartan eyed the ramp.

"Need me to step out and help you clear it just in case?" Shepard asked over the comm.

The Master Chief just shook his head.

"No need, I can handle it." He assured.

The Spartan stepped up to the edge of the ramp and eyed the top readily. He suddenly pulled a grenade from his belt and flung up the slope to the top. It hit against the back wall and curved around the corner. The resulting explosion sent a single elite flying out of cover and crumbling down the incline to the ground floor below.

"Get the vehicles ready to cross." Chief told the others. "I'll be back shortly."

The Spartan pressed onward without saying much else, although he could just hear Buck whisper something to Shepard and his squad within the Hammerhead.

"Damn, that one is stone cold." He heard the ODST say.

Considering Buck was a Drop Trooper, Chief had expected something more derogatory. He supposed, given all the ODSTs he had met, the good Sergeant was the least confrontational. Almost downright friendly even, one could argue. That still didn't change much though. Buck still had the same impression of him as most ODSTs did. Chief could see it in the man's eyes and hear it in his voice. The mixture of fear and respect was undeniable. That last sentence from him confirmed it.

Cortana, almost sensing his thoughts it seemed, spoke up as they walked up the ramp and accompanying corridor.

"You know, it wouldn't hurt to say 'please' once in awhile," she told him, "maybe they wouldn't talk behind your back."

"It won't help us find the survivors either," Chief added quickly, "besides, they can think what they want. It doesn't affect anything."

"Are you sure about that?" The AI asked, sounding unconvinced by the Spartan's answer.

Chief didn't answer and just rounded the corner. He appreciated her concern, but he had been dealing with ODSTs for most of his natural life. He had just come to expect it now. It didn't change who he was or what he did if another soldier thought less of him. Cortana continued to talk regardless, although switching topics, thankfully.

"Well this does help," she said. "The Covenant Battlenet is awash with reports of lifeboats. No coordinates, they're only giving landmark approximations. Doesn't matter, I should be able to zero in on the beacons anyway."

"Don't see how that helps us." Chief informed her.

"Didn't get to that part yet," Cortana replied, annoyed at his interruption. "The assault teams keep asking for more reinforcements to deal with the lifeboats in their vicinity, but they keep getting turned down and told to use what they already have. Seems the Covenant are spread a little thin on this hunt. That should make rescuing the survivors easier and give them more time to hold out till we get there."

It was good to know they had more time, but that still meant they had to get there. At the end of the corridor they found their means to accomplish that. There was a strange holographic panel at the edge of the metal path overlooking the gap and the corresponding arch-ways.

"Also, from the sound of things a lot more people made it off the _Autumn_ than I predicted. The Captain really gave them hell." Cortana continued to explain as Chief looked over at the gap. "If we can find Keyes and the other survivors we should be able to coordinate an effective resistance."

"And hold out until we're rescued I assume?" Chief asked.

"Or at least until we find out what is so important about this Ring," Cortana clarified. "If we're really lucky we could even hijack one of their ships and use it to escape. But that's more of a long term goal at the moment."

Chief looked the panel over, but he couldn't make heads or tails of it. It obviously wasn't Covenant, that much he had already figured out, but it didn't help him decipher what they meant. Luckily, Cortana was eager to help.

"That symbol," Cortana pointed out, highlighting it on his HUD, "the middle circle."

He wasn't sure how exactly she had figured that out, something to ask later. Chief pressed the symbol and a high pitched tune sounded. Below, he saw two pairs of prongs appear from out of the walls of the space. They began reach out towards each other across the gap. When they stopped, a few feet from touching, an energy bridge formed between the halves, spanning the crevice and allowing them to reach the other tunnel.

"Huh, Solidified Light technology," Cortana observed. "Impressive."

"Does that mean we can cross it?" Master Chief asked her.

"More than likely, just don't put your face up against it," she warned him.

Chief took her word for it. The idea of light becoming solid was a little out there to be sure, but no more than inter-diemensional visitors.

"One more thing," Cortana added as Chief began to walk down. "I just found something over the Battlenet. One of the Covenant Assault Commanders has confirmed the presence of a Normandy Crewmember at one of the lifeboats, could be in our search area."

"Who is it?" Chief asked her.

"She wears a headscarf, is armed with a shotgun and a calls upon little attack drone she zaps bad guys with." Cortana replied.

She didn't need to say anymore, Chief knew exactly who that was.

"Tell the Commander." Chief ordered her. "Knowing how bad the Covenant hates the Normandy, we need to get there fast."

* * *

Tali had lost count of how many Covenant she had killed today by now. That was becoming a regular thing though. It was seldom simple to just count how many of their number they had sent against them. It was easier just to count the waves they came in. So far they had made it through three. At least they were few and far between each other for the moment. It gave them a bit of a rest-bit after each encounter. This was the fourth wave they were fighting now and Tali already hated it.

Every assault was like clockwork. First the Covenant landed, either around the bend or directly in front of their position. Then they charged forward, jackals in front, their shields protecting the advance, grunts dispersed throughout to act as bullet sponges while the elites stayed to the rear and moved up slowly. Normally their predictability would be an advantage, but they had numbers and their ever present secret weapons. The new flamethrower husks were sparse now, but they hobbled along with the initial assault nonetheless. The Covenant kept a wide berth from them. They had good reason to, as they were the first things everyone shot. A regular grunt getting to the rocks was better than one with a mouthful of fire.

The charge usually ended with a few scattered bodies of Covenant on the field and the team pulling back to the safety of the narrow turns within the rocks. This was where things got messy. The Covenant raced through the cracks in the rock, trying to keep their eyes on every corner and path. They couldn't, of course, no one could and that made flanking easy. It also meant they were up close and personal with the enemy, always a potential risk with that.

Tali had Chitikka deployed, the little drone managed to ease some of the pressure. A jackal took an electrical blast to the left side of his face, critically injuring him. Tali stepped over him and planted a bullet from her pistol into his head as she backed up. There were a group of grunts coming up along the same path now. She fired two more shots as she ducked behind one of the rocks. She only managed to graze one of the grunts, but it gave them reason to pause.

"What I wouldn't give for biotics right now." She snarled to herself.

The delay was all the quarian would need though. As the grunts began charging their plasma pistols once more, a flashbang grenade flew into their line of sight, bounced off the side of the rocks and then went off just inches away from the lead grunt's face. As the blinding light once again gave the grunts pause, Dutch ran into the line of fire. His assault rifle rattled loudly as the ODST held down the trigger. The subsequent shower of bullets dropped the little aliens before they had realised what was happening.

"You alright?" Dutch asked Tali as he backed up to her position.

Tali just quickly nodded once as she found it hard to say much over gunfire from both sides. It was so deafening by this point she could barely hear her thoughts anymore. She still managed to inconceivably hear everyone else though, like Kasumi, who had followed after Dutch towards her position.

"Nice throw with the flashbang, huh, Tali?" she asked, shouting over renewed plasma fire, her pistol pointed down the slope.

"I didn't really see it to be honest!" Tali shouted back. "I was trying not to get blinded by it too after all!"

"Point taken!" Kasumi shouted back. A second after she responded, a plasma bolt whizzed by her shoulder. "Speaking of not being seen..."

Kasumi vanished from sight once more, activating her cloak. Dutch had already pulled back up the hill and had plopped himself beside Tali within her cover.

"Fall back to the top!" Tali shouted over a relentless stream of plasma that fell upon their rocky cover. "We need to put some distance between them and us!"

"I'm right with you, Tali!" Dutch complied.

The two dashed from cover, Dutch covering their retreat as best he could. Tali wasn't worried too much about Kasumi, she could handle herself so long as she remained cloaked and careful. Already the rest of their small defence force had joined in the fall back action. Suffice to say, this wave was getting a lot further than the last few. Whether they just had more guys this time or they were refining their strategy, it was still too early to tell.

Tali could see two Marines out of the corner of her eye, running up the path next to them through a gap in the rocks. They were firing down the incline as they slowly walked backwards up the hill. Following after them was a single jackal, his shield held firmly in front of him. Bullets slammed into the protective layer of energy and the blue disk-shaped piece of protection shuddered with every shot. He fired back a few shots from the safety of his shield in rapid succession.

Moments after the jackal came into view, however, Kasumi appeared behind the shield carrying alien. She stabbed her omni-blade into the jackal's back. As the alien went limp, she grabbed his shield hand and motioned it back down the slope, protecting herself as plasma fire sped towards her. She stayed there, with the dead jackal still attached to the shield, until the Marines had pulled back enough and then disappeared again. As Tali predicted, Kas could handle herself.

Both Tali and Dutch reached the top of the hill where almost everyone was. They had taken up defensive positions as the Covenant began their final approach. It was not looking good. At least none of the fire-breathing grunt husks had made it to the rocks. They had that much to be thankful for.

"We need a bigger deterrent than a few grenades and bullets at this point." Tali realised as she loaded another magazine into her UNSC Pistol.

"I got something in the pod," Dutch admitted, "but it's not really for infantry."

"Does it make things dead fast?" Tali asked in response.

With that, Dutch ran over to the pod, dug into one of its side hatches and lugged out a Spartan Laser (or, as it was more traditionally called by the military, a _Galilean_). Tali remembered that Dutch had used the weapon on Reach. She also remembered the tremendous recoil on the beast of a weapon when she had used it briefly. From look of it, this was the very same gun.

"Had it recharged on the _Autumn_." Dutch explained. "You know the drill though. Once the battery is done it becomes a fancy looking club."

Tali remembered, the laser could be recharged but the system was too impractical to bring into the field. She had been trying to come up with a way to fix that with Jacob, but that was still in the planning stages. That was the price of having one too many responsibilities on two ships. Once they had fired all their shots, that would be it. They needed to think about what they wanted to shoot with it carefully.

"Well, worst comes to worst we can bash a few grunt skulls in before they overrun us." Tali shrugged.

She shuddered in her mind at that moment, feeling like she had sounded a bit too much like a certain tank-born krogan just then.

Dutch shoved himself into the rock face and peered down the slope. He could spot one of the architects of their troubles, an elite moving up with his grunt cohorts. Clad in blue, the Covenant Commander fired on Dutch's position and forced him back into cover.

"Alright, this should send his little friends running." Dutch said as he pressed down on the trigger.

The weapon glowed red as it began to charge up. Before it reached the apex of its power Dutch stepped out from cover and aimed square at the elite's head. Just when the crosshairs on Dutch's HUD also turned red, the gun fired. The shot rocketed straight down the path and slammed into the elite. The blast tore apart the alien and a number of the grunts surrounding him. What was left of the elite's squad quickly retreated at the sight of their leader blown away with such ease.

"Well so long as they don't know we can only do that like four more times we should be good." Dutch said looking back to Tali.

The quarian was unable to congratulate the Drop Trooper. They had another problem come to light at that moment. One of the Marines across from their position screamed aloud as he was thrown from his cover. He gripped his arm as he lay on the ground. An elite began to walk out from where he had been thrown, plasma rifle in hand. Tali aimed at the enemy alien, ready to fire with Dutch. That was when more gun fire could be heard coming from the path the elite had walked up. It was pistol fire, cleaning up what was left of the grunts down below. The elite turned back to the path and fired down it, but he only managed to get off a few shots before a plasma sword sliced into his head.

As the elite collapsed to the ground, Kat retracted the plasma sword carried in her robotic arm. In her other hand she held her pistol. She walked carefully over the dead elite and towards Tali.

"Glad to see you got some use out of the sword." Tali told the Spartan.

"Never waste an asset." Kat replied, before she switched the subject. "Kasumi is cleaning up what's left of the grunts. This wave is done."

But there would be another one. That went without saying. Every time they fended off an assault they almost tried to hope that it would be the last one, that the Covenant would get bored, tired of the costly attempts to overrun them and just leave. Tali knew better, they all did by this point. That little fantasy just wasn't happening. The Covenant wanted them all dead and even if it took a thousand men to do it they'd see that design carried out.

They couldn't keep this up forever. They were running low on ammo and taking more injuries than they could sustain. Relief would have to come soon or there would be no one left to save among these rocks.

* * *

It had seemed like hours since they had left the _Autumn_. It hadn't, but you got bored quickly when you weren't pulping heads or the like. At least Thane and Jacob had seen fit to leave her alone for now. They were too busy trying to cut through that static that had clogged the airwaves. Every couple of minutes they tried a new frequency. Every time they got nothing. Jacob seemed more worried than Thane, probably because Miranda was on the Normandy and he couldn't seem to reach her.

Jack doubted Miranda was dead. As if the Cheerleader would keep the Normandy aboard a crashing ship. She was a bitch, that didn't mean she was stupid. She got out, Jack was sure of it. It was obvious the static was something else, especially since they couldn't contact anyone. Jack just hoped they got someone on the horn so they could land and actually do something. This Pelican was cramped as hell and she needed to stretch already.

She didn't bother to look out the cockpit window all that much, just more cliffs and rock ledges and that strange looking skyline. She wasn't very interested in it. Sure, it was a freaky alien planet, but all she cared about was finding some Covenant to kill. It was their fault she was stuck in this stupid flying bucket. She needed to vent, preferably by using other people's heads as punching bags.

For now she was stuck sulking in a corner waiting for something to actually get done. Thane kept looking back at her every now and again. She made sure not to acknowledge his glances. So long as he didn't ask her to help, she was fine. Besides, what could she do that they hadn't already tried? She wasn't the quarian or the thief. She didn't know shit about communications systems and all that other tech crap. Thane seemed to respect her silent desire for a semblance of privacy, as he never once spoke up to her.

She would've remained quiet, had it not been for the predictable grunt of their annoyed pilot who was at his wits end by now.

"Damn it." Jacob grumbled at the controls once more. "Static again."

"How shocking." Jack finally chided in with a bit of sarcasm. "What else is new?"

"Not helping, Jack." Jacob told giving her a quick glare.

She probably should've just kept her mouth shut and continue to ignore Jacob. But that proved impossible, even for her. She was so bored at this point, even though she wanted to be left alone, she couldn't help but to jump in on things just a bit.

"Just land the stupid thing already." She growled back. "Shouldn't we be out of gas already or something?"

"UNSC vehicles use fuel cells, Jack." Thane reminded her. "They don't run out of gas."

Damn it, she thought, this universe really was conspiring to keep her bored as hell. At least she knew it wasn't paranoia anymore.

"Well we're not getting anywhere flying up here anyway." She answered, throwing her arm out in front of her. "I say we hit the ground, find shelter and wait it out for Shepard or the Cheerleader to locate us. They probably already figured out how to find us even with the static by now."

"Maybe, but we're safer up here." Jacob informed her. "The Covenant are definitely crawling all over the surface by now. We go down there we get caught in a firefight. At least up here we can stay out of their reach."

To Jack, a firefight would be a welcome change at this point. Besides, they weren't completely safe and Jacob should know that.

"What about Banshees?" She asked. "What about their big ass fleet? What about the damn plasma rockets they fire off from their shoulders?"

"Fuel rod cannons." Thane corrected her.

Jack just shot him a glare once more. He knew what she meant, like he needed to correct her. Jacob had an answer for her regardless of the proper name for the said cannons.

"We're well out of range of anything like the fuel rod cannon." He assured. "As for Banshees, I'm confident I can outmanoeuvre them easy. This thing isn't unarmed after all, its' got a chain gun in the nose and everything."

"So what?" Jack asked in frustration. "We just stay up here for the next several hours calling to nobody over white noise about where we can meet up? That will take forever!"

"I'm sure we'll pick up something." Jacob assured. "We just gotta bypass the communication static somehow."

Good luck with that, Jack thought. Unless they could magically pop the AI, the thief, the salarian or the quarian into this floating tub they were fresh out of luck on that end. Jack just sighed and prepared to sleep this whole load of bullshit off. But then, almost as if to screw with her, Jacob's prediction proved right the second she laid her head down on the seat next to her. He spoke suddenly with great delight pointing at the control console.

"I'm picking up some kind of beacon signal nearby." He exclaimed. "Well, not nearby but certainly close."

A few moments later, Jacob managed to zero in on the frequency and just as the radio lit up with a sound. At first it was a muffled voice through the static, and then it became clearer.

"...peat, Pelican do you copy?" a voice came through the airwaves. "We require immediate pick-up. We have wounded"

Everyone onboard the Pelican instantly recognized the calm and collected voice of Samara. Her unmistakably unshakable cool tone was apparent even over a crackling radio signal. Thankfully Jacob didn't seem interested in gloating over his persistence being proved right. Miranda most certainly would have. It was one of the few things that made Jack happy about being stuck with her current two companions.

"Samara, its Jacob, we read you. Barely, but we can hear you. Are you alright?"

"I am well, Jacob." Samara replied instantly. "We just spotted you flying in the distance from our position. It is good to finally hear someone at last. It has been a trying day."

The asari's voice was slightly distorted by lingering static in background, but she was understandable. That much anyone could appreciate. A few quick questions followed. Jacob and Samara discussed the static and confirmed that they both had encountered it. That was suspicious and reeked of it being a problem created by the Covenant, but that was of little concern now.

"We need to hook up as soon as possible and see about finding the others." Jacob continued. "Can you pinpoint your position for me?"

"We are near a structure embedded in the side of a cliff edge." Samara explained. "I can only assume you are nearby if we are able to contact each other regardless of static."

Jacob scanned the area below his Pelican a bit before he spotted something that matched Samara's description in the distance. It was difficult to make out, but once the building sent off a flare of blue light clear into the sky, it wasn't hard to see where they needed to go.

"I see it, Sam." Jacob assured. "Hang tight we'll be there in two shakes. Starting our descent now."

Jack sighed at the prospect of being stuck in some stupid old alien building waiting for pick up, but she supposed it was better than being stuck in a damn Pelican. Still, she knew Jacob and Samara would prefer they stick to the structure, hunker down, wait it out. Honestly, all she wanted to do was kill assholes. That was why they made her join the crew, why didn't anybody just give her the chance to do it?

At that moment there was a terrible explosion and the Pelican violently jolted to the side. Jack smacked against the wall and fell to the floor. Fire spewed out of the sides of the craft as warning lights and sounds blared in her ears. She scrambled to sit up as the ship shook violently. She saw Thane taking the co-pilot controls of the aircraft with Jacob. She tried to make her way over to the cockpit as best she could with the whole Pelican falling straight out of the sky.

"The hell happened?" she asked as she forced herself to stand on the shaking floor.

"Something hit us when we got too low!" Jacob shouted, clutching the controls. "I think it got one of our thrusters."

"I thought you said we were safe from plasma cannons!" Jack chastised.

"Not the time, Jack!" Jacob answered back through gritting teeth. "Berate me about how wrong I was later!"

Jacob and Thane tried to pull up, but the Pelican was already dipping down from the skies above. The ground got closer with every passing second, they were going down, and hard. All they could hope for was that they made a decent enough crash landing and didn't get their body parts strewn across the woodlands below. Jacob made a sharp turn for a clearing and kept the nose of the Pelican up.

"Hold on!" He said instinctively.

Jack rushed to a seat nearby and clutched down on it hard. The ground was only seconds away now. Without even realising it, she shut her eyes as they hit, the force of the impact thrusting her back into the wall once more. She could hear metal being torn from the aircraft and dirt being shoved aside as the vehicle hit the ground hard.

Careful what you wish for, they always said.

* * *

Zek smiled a bit as he lowered the rocket launcher. He laughed at the smoke in the distance before handing the heavy weapon off to his subordinate, Retz. To Varvok it was a solid indication that the demonstration had gone over well in the kig-yar's eyes.

"It's definitely more accurate than the fuel rod cannon." Zek noted. "Lighter too. I can see why the humans prefer rockets now, less arcing."

"I wish there were more in the Covenant willing to test our weapons." Varvok said looking down on the bird-like alien. "They don't seem very trusting of anything that isn't made based off of Forerunner technology."

Zek just shrugged at the whole notion.

"Eh, same old crap. It looks too much like human technology to them, even when it's based off that Mass Effect stuff they claim the Forerunners made." The kig-yar said with disdain in his voice. "If they actually wanted to win this war tomorrow we'd have improved our weapons by now. Instead they just want us to find lost tech to repurpose. Bunch of idiots."

"Your plasma guns are still impressive regardless." Varvok informed him. "We're still working on perfecting energy-based weapons tech back in my universe."

"Yeah, but it limits our arsenal." Zek countered. "Kig-yar can only carry small-arms weapons, no heavy stuff because none of it is built for us. You ever try lugging a giant shoulder mounted fuel rod launcher with you when you have hollow frail bones?"

Varvok honestly couldn't say he had. When he provided no answer, Zek quickly changed the subject back to the matter at hand. He looked back to the trail of smoke rising up from the treeline.

"We better make sure they're all dead." He said.

"I find it hard to believe anyone could survive that." Varvok suggested.

"Hey, you wanna get yelled at by the Supreme Commander and his shadow, fine." Zek replied haughtily. "But I am not going back in the brig after only 72 hours of freedom cause I didn't confirm a kill. Besides, I wanna add to my notches."

He supposed Zek had a point. He couldn't just assume, even Balak would want him to be sure. And he was trying to get on Thel's good side after all. It was just that they had other obligations to see to at the moment.

"We need to track down the escape pod beacons before the humans dig in too much." Varvok reminded him. "Do we really have time for a detour?"

Zek just smirked at the question.

"Well there is a beacon in the general direction they crashed anyway." Zek informed him. "We might as well take a look on our way. Besides, aren't you forgetting our ace in the hole?"

Zek pointed back to one of his men. He was wearing a box-shaped metallic device strapped to his back with an antenna and small radar dish attached to its top.

"How could I forget?" Varvok replied. "They're batarian after all."

"Point is as long as they're broadcasting, the humans can't call for back-up." Zek assured. "We got time. They're helpless and they have nowhere to go. We can take one little detour just to confirm we killed them. We don't have to just rush to the beacon and tire ourselves out over a fear of rescue ships which will never come. No sense in busting our tail feathers more than we have to."

Zek began to move out with his men and Varvok followed. He supposed that, once again, his companion had a point. They could take their time, for now at least. But there was always the chance that the humans could figure a way around the scrambler. Especially with Shepard involved. Balak had warned him how crafty he was and how insidiously cunning the people around him could be when faced with a particularly difficult problem.

* * *

The scene had played out above them just moments ago and few could believe they had seen it with their own eyes. The Pelican they hoped would be their salvation was now grounded, several miles away from their current position. To Kowalski it was just more evidence this day was going to keep getting worse before it got better. To Agley it was his cue to go into another a nervous breakdown.

"Oh that's just great, that's just beautiful." He groaned. "What are we supposed to do now, huh?"

"Stop whining and be productive for once, maybe?" Ellingham suggested in a deadpan voice as he stared Agley down.

Agley just ignored him, stumbling off to moan to himself. Kowalski normally would've told him to suck it up, but to be honest, a part of him wanted to join the nervous Marine Private and just give up. The people who were supposed to be rescuing them, now needed to be rescued themselves. Irony sucked when you were in the military.

"Samara, can you and Legion get them back on the horn?" Sergeant Taylor asked the two.

Samara was already shaking her head before Taylor could finish asking the question. Legion was right behind her, its head plates clicking away at a frightening pace.

"Legion is trying to raise them, but the crash could have damaged their communications equipment." She explained. "Moreover the static has returned. We cannot contact their Normandy comm-links."

"Then we need to get to the crash site before the Covenant swarm it." Taylor decreed. "They won't last five minutes out there in the open otherwise."

Almost immediately, Grunt jumped to his feet and bashed his fists together.

"Ha, ha, finally, I get to kill something." He chuckled.

Few others were as enthusiastic. There were a dozen reasons one could name as to why it was a bad idea. The length of the trek, the inherent danger, their low supplies, it seemed suicidal. But out of all of them, it was Pearson who spoke up with the gravest concern of them all.

"Sir, shouldn't we stay with the beacon?" Pearson asked. "What if pick up comes to rescue us while we're trying to rescue them?"

It was a complication, but Marines were nothing if not excellent problem solvers.

"It'll be faster getting there with a small squad anyway." Taylor relented. "I'll take a team to secure the crash site. Pearson, you stay here with the rest of the unit until we get back. Keep working on getting in touch with command."

Pearson just nodded while volunteers stepped up for the rescue mission. Grunt was the obvious first person to step up to the plate, followed by Ramirez, Ellingham, Samara and Kowalski. Legion could not come. It had to stay behind to keep the beacon signal boosted. Zaeed opted to stay as well and hold down the fort. And of course, Agley was in no mood to leave the structure that offered security and safety.

There were a handful of other Marines who joined as well. It was a decent enough sized squad, more than capable of handling the Covenant in the woods. The question now was could they reach the Pelican in time. Kowalski at least hoped they could. The Normandy crew had been their acting cavalry since they showed up. In his case, Samara had saved his bacon more times than he could count. This was a chance to repay the favour by saving some of her friends. Something had to go right today for once, it just had to.

* * *

Linda was moderately impressed by the Normandy's array of sniper rifles in its armoury. Anti-Shield, anti-flesh, anti-armour, they had all kinds of ammo mods for these "thermal clips" of theirs. She was looking forward to trying a few out. Scopes weren't bad, if a bit lacking in the functions side of things. Miranda said there were mods to fix that, but Linda presumed they wouldn't be out in the field that long so she opted against packing what could be baggage in the end. In any case, if things did go that way, Jun had the traditional Sniper Rifle. They could just trade if it got bad.

"We've pinpointed a lot of distress beacons in the area so far." Miranda informed the two Spartans as they got ready. "We'll have another shuttle on stand-by to get them out as you find them. We can also move into evac position if necessary. We should be done relatively quickly."

Linda checked the scope on her new rifle, a Viper as they called it. Seemed like a decent enough gun. From the specs she could tell it had less recoil and a high damage output. It would do for now.

"Just tell your Doctor to have the beds ready." Linda informed her. "There are going to be wounded."

Miranda merely nodded, before Linda continued with a different line of query.

"Why exactly is your armoury on this deck and not in the shuttle bay with ready access?" she asked the Normandy's XO.

Miranda just shrugged a little.

"I didn't design the ship." She explained. "You'd have to bring that up with the people in the other dimension."

"Just consider fixing it if you ever need a refit." Linda suggested as she strapped the rifle to her back.

Jun was ready as well and they made their way for the door. As they did, they were interrupted by the voice of EDI from her little pedestal in the corner.

"I do hope you will spend a considerable amount of time searching for our missing crew members." She announced, her voice radiating with an aura of displeasure. "I would hate to see us leave them prematurely."

Miranda shook her head with a sigh.

"EDI, relax, we will find Joker." She promised the AI. "We will bring him back. We aren't going to leave him out there alone."

"Based on the current evidence and observations I have made, that has yet to be verified as a factual statement." EDI chastised slightly.

Miranda tried to plead her case once more, but EDI logged off. She had been like that since they left the _Autumn_, confrontational and seemingly disgusted. It was hard to tell if she was actually feeling an emotion or just displeased with how her organic peers had conducted themselves in regards to her friend. Linda couldn't be sure, she barely knew EDI enough to make a guess. But she knew one other Spartan nearby who might have an idea.

"That AI always like this when she doesn't get her way?" she asked Jun.

"She and Joker practically run the ship together." Jun explained. "I think she's just angered we ordered her to leave without her pilot."

"Try not to be too judgemental." Miranda added quickly. "I've always had my own reservations about EDI now and again, but she is fiercely loyal to this crew. She just doesn't know how to express her new found freedom sometimes."

Linda was still a bit put off by that revelation from earlier.

"AIs may be accepted fact here and legal, but we have rules with them." Linda warned Miranda. "More importantly, they understand you can express your displeasure with an order once and then you have to follow it, like any good soldier does."

"We don't see her as a soldier, she's just the ship." Miranda explained stoically. "I'm not trying to excuse her, but I think this is the first major loss she's had to suffer and she's struggling with it. I'm sure once we find Joker it will be okay... if he's alive of course."

Linda could see the dark haired woman quickly banish the thought from her mind as it came up. The chances of Joker being alive at this point were minimal, but it was best not to subsist on 'what-ifs' right now. They'd find him or they wouldn't, simple as that. At least it was to Linda.

Linda continued her walk with Jun to the elevator, trying to put the AI out of her head. She hoped John was having more luck with that little blue woman now stuck in his helmet. She could empathize with EDI's anger. She had felt the same way when she learned they left pretty much everyone she had ever known back on Reach. But they were dead and there were other people they needed to save right now. Perhaps she was just expecting too much of an AI from a universe that apparently had no idea how to control them properly.

She stepped into the elevator with Jun.

"Have the Normandy ready for pick up on a moment's notice, Lawson." She ordered. "The second we find Marines we're calling in a shuttle to get them out."

Miranda once again nodded in agreement as the elevator doors closed. One thing was sure in her mind, every Marine they found was coming back aboard this frigate. No one left behind, that was the old saying. They'd hold true to that.

* * *

When they exited the tunnel at last, they were greeted with the amazing sight of a wide open valley stretching out before them. Clear blue streams, luscious pines, bright green grass and tremendous rock faces surrounded them as their vehicles pushed out towards the first beacon. They were in a hurry to get there, especially Shepard, who was pushing the Hammerhead's engines till they burned red. He had a crewmate in trouble at that lifeboat and was intent on reaching her.

"Expect trouble, people." Shepard warned over the comm. "The Covenant knows Tali is among this lifeboat's survivors. They will be throwing everything at her."

It wasn't that farfetched a concern. According to Shepard, the Covenant had it in for anyone who resided aboard the Normandy. That made Tali a prime target. The rescue would be difficult in that case. The Master Chief was more than ready for a fight though. Pushing the pedal to the metal, trying to keep the Hog in pace with the Hammerhead, they closed in on the beacon signal. Sergeant Buck was already readying his SMG.

"Covies are probably all over them by now, so watch your shots." The ODST cautioned.

They rounded the bend and saw a large rocky hillside. The Marines had seemingly dug themselves into the rocks as a makeshift fortress. The Covenant were already on the assault from the looks of it. The two sides exchanged plasma and bullets between them and more dropships soon came forward to reinforce the Covenant. Shepard was already gunning towards the battle, and Chief followed after him.

"Eat this, Covies!" The Warthog's gunner cried out as they raced into battle, firing his machine gun like mad.

The Warthog rammed straight into the back of an unsuspecting grunt, crushing him beneath the tires with a sickening crunch. The Hammerhead was launching a barrage of missiles upon the Covenant lines and running down any unfortunate Covies that got in the way. One of the said Covenant in the Hammerhead's path looked to be some kind of grunt. He was huddled over himself and plodding forward along the ground at a slow pace. As Chief stared over at the alien, still keeping his foot pressed down hard on the pedal. As he did he noticed the strange blackish charcoal skin with red lines.

That was no normal grunt.

"Commander, look out!" Chief called out over the radio.

Too late, the Hammerhead hit the grunt and it suddenly exploded into a tower of flames. The Hammerhead was knocked to the side, a fire burning across its front armour and then spreading to one of its hover skids. All the Hammerhead was doing now was tilling soil, as one side dipped towards the ground. The vehicle came to a stop, its turret still moving at a frantic pace, firing at anything that looked hostile.

"Damn it, whatever we hit killed propulsion! Garrus, stay on the gun!" Shepard ordered. "Me and Mordin will head out and secure the area! Keep the Covenant off the Marines!"

"How come we always get grievously damaged whenever you drive us into a fight?" Was all Garrus said in return.

Chief slid the warthog to a stop close to the Hammerhead. The Gunner kept firing as he and Buck jumped out and into the battle waging around them. The first sight they saw was another group of those strange looking grunts, fire and molten metal dripping from their mouths.

"Those ain't your regular Gas Suckers." Buck stated.

One of the creatures spat a ball of fire at the two, forcing them to break apart. Chief rolled into a firing position and unloaded his assault rifle into the freakish looking grunt. A second later it exploded into a plume of fire that shot up into the sky.

"Well that's a new one." Cortana commented. "I don't think I need to suggest keeping a good distance away from them."

"I figured that out for myself actually." Chief replied.

He fired again into one of the strange grunts while they tried to spit their fiery globs at him. As he did, a blast of flame struck one of the creatures from the side, causing him to erupt alongside the other. As two more infernal towers arose from their corpses, Mordin and Shepard joined Chief by his side.

"That's what you ran over if you're still wondering." The Spartan told the Commander.

Shepard grimaced at the strange grunts.

"Great, new husks to deal with it.|" He growled. "Just when I was getting used to new ones."

Chief was a bit confused.

"Husks?" he asked.

"Former living organic tissue repurposed into an artificial life form whose only purpose is to kill." Cortana explained quickly. "In this particular case, it's a grunt that can now shoot fire. It's all in the intel files the Normandy provided us. You should really consider reading them for yourself when we get the time."

He would, but right now, Chief had Marines to save.

"Short and simple version for now, Cortana." He asked.

"Robot Zombies, make'em dead." The AI replied in a slightly mocking tone.

The machine gunner on the Hog was doing a pretty good job of that already, raking the treeline where the husks were crawling out from. As for the rest of the Covenant, they were close to the rocks, some of them already within the defence perimeter the Marines had set up. They were the more immediate threat to the survivors. He ran up to the rocks, Shepard and the others at his side.

This time they encountered regular grunts, good, they wouldn't explode like their mutilated friends. Between the four of them the two little gas suckers were not much of a challenge. Chief gave them credit though, they stood their ground. Their plasma shots only bounced off his shields though, so it wasn't much of a fight in the end.

Entering the rocks they found a few more grunts surrounding a single elite. The Covenant Commander was preoccupied with pinning down a group of Marines. Chief fired a burst from his assault rifle. It didn't penetrate the alien's own shields, but it turned his attention onto them instead. Angered, the elite directed his surrounding minions to engage them. They had little choice but to obey. Mordin was the first to land a hit, using his pistol to plant a round square between the eyes of one grunt before paralyzing another with a neural shock. Buck raked the Covie with a burst from his sub-machinegun before taking out the third grunt right beside him. The fourth landed at least a shot on Chief before he fired his assault rifle into the little alien's head.

The elite had hoped to use the momentary distraction to fire on the small squad of would-be rescuers, evident by how he was now aiming at their position, firing over the heads of his dying minions. Instead his gun suddenly overheated. Blue steam poured from his gun. Chief could see the cause, pointing an omni-tool from behind the Covie was Tali. She had sabotaged the gun, overheating it from a distance.

Chief made a mental note to get one of those for himself if he could.

The elite wouldn't wait for the weapon to cool. He tossed it aside instead and pulled out two dual plasma pistols from his belt. He fired them at the squad, forcing it to scatter. Shepard rolled to the side and let out a powerful throw attack that forced the elite to stumble across the ground. As the elite growled and regained his footing, his shields suddenly vanished. The glow that surrounded his suit dissipated. Chief once again saw Tali'Zorah among the Marines' position, fiddling with her omni-tool.

Now was his chance, he fired a quick burst into the elite's hip to wound him. The elite growled and turned towards the Spartan to fire a barrage of plasma. Chief took the hits, letting his shields go into the red. He closed the distance with the elite and delivered a crushing punch to the side of his head. Then at point blank range, he fired the last bullets in his assault rifle's magazine into the Covie's heart. The elite fell limp to the ground, dead.

"Always have to go for the dramatic kill, don't you?" Cortana commented.

"Easiest to make sure an elite stays down is to get up close." Chief explained to her.

"Oh sure, that's why you had to shoot him twice and punch him in between." Cortana replied back, not really buying his explanation.

Garrus came over the radio to inform Shepard that what was left of the Covenant outside had been dealt with. Between him and the Warthog gunner, it hadn't been much of problem. With the siege lifted for the moment, Tali rushed down to meet them, some of the Marines and Engineering crew followed after her.

"Shepard, thank the Ancestors." She greeted her Commander, her relief readily apparent to all. "I knew you'd find us."

Shepard just smiled broadly back at the quarian, Chief noticed a distinct little glint in his eye as he did.

"It's good to see you too, Tali." He said happily. "But really you should thank Cortana. She's the one that pinpointed your pod and told us you were here."

Tali's attention suddenly shifted away from Shepard and towards the Master Chief. She walked slowly up to him, looking him in the face. Although Chief could tell she wasn't really looking at him to be exact.

"Cortana?" she said astonished. "Are you in there?"

"Of course I am Tali." Cortana replied, sounding a bit confused. "I mean, I am his partner now."

Tali quickly composed herself, losing her strange bewildering look before standing up proper.

"Yes, right, I forgot. Apologies, Chief, it's good to see you got off the _Autumn_ as well" She said graciously.

"Same here, Tali'Zorah." He said back to her. He looked back to the Marines that had gathered behind her. "Is there anyone else?"

"We have wounded up in our position," Tali said motioning up towards the top of the hill, "and a few others."

One by one those said others revealed themselves. One did so in a rather literal manner by appearing out of thin air right beside Commander Shepard. She was a thinly framed Japanese woman wearing a hood over her head. Chief recognized her as Kasumi, one of the Normandy crew.

"Sup?" She asked Shepard with nod of her head and a cheeky grin.

Buck jumped back a bit at Kasumi's sudden appearance. Shepard stayed where he was, obviously familiar enough with the girl's antics to not be surprised by them.

"How come you people have all the cool toys?" Buck asked Shepard once he recovered from the shock. "I mean, we don't have cloaking suits. That I know of."

"Don't be too jealous." Kasumi told him. "You got that awesome laser bazooka for one. Just ask your friend."

Kasumi pointed behind Buck towards someone else descending the slop. He was a larger man wearing yellowish ODST armour and packing an assault rifle.

"Dutch!" Buck said, his face lighting up at the appearance of his fellow trooper. "Damn is it good to see you."

"Likewise, sir." Dutch nodded as he approached. "Been through a hell of a fight without ya, glad you could make it though. Rome with you?"

"No, just Garrus back in the Hammerhead and Mordin here." Buck replied, looking a bit more downtrodden. "I was hoping he was with you to be honest."

The last person to descend from the slope was someone Chief did not expect. For it was another Spartan, clad in light blue armour and sporting a metallic cybernetic arm. He could tell she was a girl, it was easy for him, and that she wasn't a Spartan II. Not big enough. She marched over to him, a plasma sword in one of her hands.

"Spartan-117, also known as the Master Chief." She announced suddenly. "I didn't think you'd be saving us."

Buck looked at the two Spartans curiously.

"You two know each other?" he asked.

"Not personally." The Spartan III admitted. "But every Spartan knows who the Master Chief is. Especially when you work with a II for a long time."

Chief's attention was immediately hooked. She knew one of his line of Spartans? That could only mean one thing. She was quick to confirm it.

"Jorge used any opportunity he could to talk about you." She told him. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Katherine-B320, or Kat for short. Pleasure to finally meet you, Master Chief Petty Officer 117."

Jorge, he remembered Jorge. He was the only member of his little group of seventy-five recruits who never had to be stolen from his home planet, just his family. He was the least traumatised of all of them from day one, next to him of course. Also he was probably the biggest kid there. Even before the operation and the procedures. Chief doubted he had ever been small.

"If you knew Jorge you must be from Noble Team." He said. "I heard about you, mostly rumours though."

"Formerly Noble." Kat corrected him. "Not many left of us now."

Chief knew the feeling and his thoughts grew heavy with the memory of his friends. At the moment though, Jorge remained at the forefront.

"I heard about Jorge dying, although not the exact circumstances." Chief explained, his voice sounding deeper and more sorrowful now. "I'm sorry, ma'am. He was a good soldier."

Kat shook her head at him, her eyes towards the ground.

"I should be saying sorry to you." She told him respectfully. "You knew him longer."

With that, the two Spartans closed out their short conversation and returned to the group. No sense mourning now, they still had a job to do.

"So what's our next move?" Dutch asked.

"Pelican will come to pick us up eventually, but we need to hold until it arrives." Shepard answered.

"Covenant unlikely to capitulate now." Mordin interjected. "Excess amount of bodies on battlefield suggest ongoing siege. Psychological profile of Covenant military structure will not accept losses without a formal result. Will make extraction... problematic."

Tali was quick to confirm that assumption.

"They've been at us almost from the point we crashed down." She explained to Shepard. "Until you showed up, between the Covenant and those new fire spewing husks, I thought we were on our last legs."

"We brought extra firepower, Tali." Shepard assured. "We're gonna get you and everyone else out of here. I promise."

They had every reason to be confident. The Hammerhead, while damaged, still had a working turret. The Warthog was operational and had its machinegun to boot. Still, Chief wasn't about to sit on his laurels and just allow the Covenant to keep marching up to this little rock fortress. They had the numbers now, time to take the fight to them.

"Foe Hammer knows to check this area for lifeboat beacons." Cortana assured. "I can't contact her because of the static so it will take a little longer for her to get here than usual. We just need to hold out until she can reach us."

"Where do the Covenant land most of the time?" Chief asked Tali quickly.

"On the other side of the rocks or behind the treeline mostly." She answered. "Think you can pin down?"

With the right weapon he could. Chief scanned the crowd and saw a Marine with a sniper rifle in hand. He stepped over to him, offering his assault rifle in exchange. The Marine was happy to oblige and handed it over along with his ammo. There was enough to make a substantial dent in any attacking Covenant force. He'd have to make every shot count though.

"Let's fan out along the potential landing sites." Shepard suggested. "Mordin, you see to the wounded while we get in position."

The Salarian merely nodded and ran off up the hill to do his work. Everyone else got in position for the next assault. By the time they were out in the open Chief could see one of the Covenant dropships heading towards one of the landing sites Tali designated. It was one of the U-shaped ones, probably carrying a squad of eight or so. There was also a Phantom making the rounds overhead. Probably to send in additional reinforcements if need be. Perhaps more of those husks.

Chief positioned himself among the trees overlooking the drop site. It wasn't long before a number of Jackals and grunts were piling out of one side of the ship. The elite in charge circled around to the front of the dropship, exposing himself. He was a prime target, so Chief kept him in the crosshairs. Everyone else had moved towards the rock face, he was the only one with the significantly long range weapon after all. They'd move in on his shot, best to make it count and bring down the elite first.

The elite was readying his little group, getting it into formation for the assault. Grunts first, Jackals second and him at the rear, it was the standard Covenant formation. They seemed to be waiting for something, probably the Phantom to deliver the husks which were missing from the regular attack group. The elite didn't seem all that concerned about being pinpointed as he was out in the open. Perhaps he still thought the humans, regardless of their reinforcements, were content to just remain in their little hole. It didn't matter, it just made this easier.

What made it a little bit harder was the fact the elite kept pacing around at the back of his troops, talking into his ear. Yeah, he was planning something alright. Normally, Chief would just take the shot, but this wasn't a stationary target and elites had hyper quick reflexes. You usually only had one shot before they ducked down, rolled away or got into cover. Luckily, he had extra help.

"Cortana, you think you can give me a little help here?" he asked the AI.

"Well, judging on the distance, the target's height, wind speed and projectile velocity..." Cortana rambled off quickly.

A few seconds later a small dot appeared on the Chief's heads-up display just a few inches off from the elite's head. It followed him around at the precise distance as he paced back and forth.

"Aim there." She told him in a chipper tone.

Chief did as instructed. All the while he hoped that Cortana was still as good as she continued to claim she was. He pressed the trigger, a trail white smoke shot from the rifle and in the next instant the elite's head exploded. As he fell to the ground, his little formation fell into disarray, confusion and general anarchy. The grunts ran wildly in all directions while the jackals frantically looked for where the shot had come from. By now Shepard had signalled the others to charge out of cover and they rushed into the fray to take out the Covies before they reorganized.

That was when the Phantom descended from on high, and opened its belly up. Pouring from inside and down onto the battlefield in heaps were the grunt husks. They were now among the Covenant themselves as well as close to Shepard's team.

"Well this just got complicated." Cortana observed.

Master Chief would now have to be careful with his targets. Fire at one of those husks too close a friendly and they'd get burned. However, the Covenant troops were at just as much risk. He found one of the little husks crawling past two jackals and fired a single shot. The resulting burst of fire rained down on the jackals. As they batted away at the flames, trying to put out their feathers, Shepard tossed out a pull attack that sent them both flying through the air. They were now open targets for Buck to finish off.

Chief surveyed the battle as it unfolded. He was initially worried about not being able offer sufficient fire support, but that quickly faded. Shepard and the others were more than capable of handling themselves. Between the mix of shockwaves from Shepard and Tali's drone, the Covenant barely knew hit them. Kat was no Spartan II, but that didn't make her any less a good soldier. Her accuracy with her pistol was impeccable, catching two Covenant soldiers, a jackal and a grunt, through both of their heads with one shot. Buck and Dutch tried to keep focus on the husks, trying to detonate them before they got too close. All the while the group backed up, no sense advancing into the mouths of walking flamethrowers.

Chief noticed one of the jackals charging his plasma pistol, aiming it at Sergeant Buck. With no shields that was almost a death sentence. He quickly levelled his sights over the bird-like alien and fired. The jackal's head flung back and he fell to the ground. His plasma bolt was sent flying harmlessly into the air. Chief watched the shot go of like a flare into the clouds, catching a glimpse of their next problem. There was another dropship descending from above, closing on his position in the treeline. That meant the others were about to be outflanked.

"Cortana, warn them while I reposition." He told the AI.

"On it, Chief."

While Cortana contacted the others, Chief ran a good distance away from the descending dropship. He slid down the slight incline, grabbing onto a tree's trunk to spin him back around to face the ship. He aimed his sniper rifle at it just as the doors began to open. He spotted two grunts in perfect view. He pinpointed one in his scope, fired and moved to the next in a split second. The two gas suckers tumbled out of the craft and onto the ground below. Their fellows next to them were obviously shaken and leapt from their positions, desperate to find cover. They randomly fired on Master Chief's position, forcing him to take cover behind the tree for the moment.

The Covenant continued to pile out, focusing most of their ire on Chief's position. At least they weren't shooting at Shepard's group. Chief reloaded his Sniper Rifle and got ready to take another shot. He'd have to reposition himself though. They had this tree zeroed in by now, evidenced by the plasma bolts now filling the air around him. The color of blue zipped by his head within the span of a second, which meant there was still at least one elite out there. He'd only get a few seconds to take aim once he left cover, so he had to make it count. He stepped from cover and aimed down the sight, a grunt's head came into view and he fired. The shot killed the alien with ease. Chief took off running while the Covies panicked.

The plasma lashed through the trees, Chief kept running regardless. He needed to get some distance and a better angle on the incline. He crouched down behind one of the trees and saw some of the grunts were advancing forward on his position. Their elite Commander was following close behind. Chief could fire on them, but he had a better idea. He had just led the Covenant straight into the line of fire for the crippled Hammerhead and the Warthog's gunner.

"Vakarian, fire on the treeline." He ordered over the radio.

"But you're in the trees." Garrus hesitantly noted.

"I'll be fine," he assured, "do it."

The turian did as requested and before long missiles were streaming into the trees. The Warthog's gunner added his own fire into the mix and before long the ground was shaking with explosions, the shade illuminated by fire. The grunts died the quickest as the projectiles collided into them. The elite managed to survive. His focus was completely on dodging the various shots from the two vehicles that had now zeroed on him. He should've been dead within seconds, but he was an elite, they were notoriously light on their feet.

"A loss of his left ligament should slow him down." Cortana told the Spartan non-chalantly.

"Just what I was thinking," Chief responded.

He took the sniper in hand, carefully aiming down the sight even with missiles colliding into the ground and the rattling of a machine gun overhead filling the air with noise and the ground with vibrations. For Chief though, all he was focused on was the elite's leg. He wasn't as skilled a sniper as Linda, but he didn't need it, he just knew he could pull off this shot.

The bullet exited the chamber and flew across the battlefield. The elite was running for cover behind a tree, trying to duck into a roll. Before he could, the bullet cut right into his left thigh. The elite wavered for just a second at the pain, just enough for a missile to strike him square in the back. The blast sent him hurtling into a tree, snapping his back in two.

"Cease fire Vakarian, targets are down." Chief informed the Turian.

As he stood up from his position, however, the Spartan heard another two dropships coming in. One of them was the Phantom from before. This time it didn't even wait for the first ship to land to deliver its cargo. It opened its stomach and let a large group of the little fire breathing grunts fall upon the Spartan's position.

"Oh well that's just perfect." Cortana groaned in his ear.

The first of the mutilated creatures landed just feet away from the Master Chief. A sniper rifle was no good in this situation, so he switched to his pistol. He backed away from the creature slightly and fired a single shot. The plume of flame shot out from the monster's back, showering the Spartan with sparks. His shields protected him, but he was not safe. There were more of the husks, behind him and to his side. He rolled away as one spewed forth a stream of fire. Another crawled right up to him and the Spartan kicked it in the face to force it back. He couldn't risk shooting them this close to him, so he began to back up, straight towards the now descending dropship as the undead grunts followed.

"We can probably make a break for it back to the Warthog." Cortana suggested. "They're not that fast and its better than walking into a bunch of plasma guns at our backs."

Chief agreed, although he wondered how badly he'd get burned before they made it. He was about to carry out the plan when he heard explosions from above. The little husks were distracted themselves and looked up to see the Phantom under fire. Garrus was everything the Hammerhead had at the dropship, intending to bring it down.

"I'm taking these little Spitfires out of the equation, Chief!" Garrus shouted over the radio. "Fall back!"

The distraction was just what he needed to increase his odds. Chief ran for it, punting one of the little husks onto its back. As he ran from the treeline, the warthog's gun opened up on the little husks. Chief looked back and fired, catching two as they crawled out from the trees. One of them exploded and the resulting infernal tower went so high it struck the nose of the Phnatom as it tried to close in on the stationary Hammerhead.

As more of the little husks crawled their way out of the trees, their makeshift mothership catching fire as they did, Chief saw Shepard's team joining the fight. They added their fire to the Warthog's own, taking out a number of the little grunt fire spewing monsters before they managed to get too far. The Phantom took off into the sky, trying to escape the Hammerhead's barrage, but Garrus was relentless. The missiles trailed after the Phantom, striking it constantly and repeatedly. Before long its engines were on fire and it began to dip from the sky. It exploded only moments later.

"Ha! Choke on that you bastards! No more spitfires!"

This was far from over though. The other dropship was already unloading troops. They may have lost their supply of husks, but they were no doubt still determined to continue the fight. Shepard, Tali and Kasumi quickly rallied around the Hammerhead with Kat joining them.

"Can you fix a hover booster?" Shepard asked Kat as he covered her with his pistol.

"I can try. Just give me space to work." She responded as she bent down to get to work.

Dutch and Buck made a beeline for the escape pod to act as cover as the Covenant began pouring down out of the woods. They successfully split the focus of the attackers in two, forcing a number of grunts to take shots at them as they tried to move forward. Buck was the more accurate one, plugging a bullet between one jackal's firing hand and sending a burst through his head when the alien recoiled in pain. They retracted behind cover, however, when the dropship took off again, firing plasma down upon their little crashed lifeboat before speeding off into the sky.

"Those ships are assholes both coming and going." Dutch growled. "They remind me of some Christmas Party guests from my youth."

The Warthog's gunner kept up the fire and Garrus launched missiles over their heads on their approach. Shepard let loose a number of shockwaves against the ground, trying to keep them off balance and they charged forward. The Master Chief decided to be more direct. He climbed back into the Warthog, started it up and sped towards the onrushing Covenant. At that moment, Kasumi tossed a flashbang into the alien horde, blinding them. Chief used the moment to run them down.

He got most of them, except for the elite in charge. He dodged to the side. The gunner followed, but the alien managed to stay ahead of the bullets and fire back. Chief drove after the elite, but he was only stalled slightly by the unexpected appearance of Tali's little drone friend. It rolled straight up to the Covenant Officer and shocked him right in the side. It gave the elite pause, just enough time for Chief to push the pedal to the metal and run the Covie down. The elite was sent flying right over the hood of the Warthog, passed the gunner and onto the ground in a heap. The Warthog's gunner fired a few more rounds in the alien's collapsed form, just to be sure.

As the elite fell, Kat stood up suddenly from her position near the Hammerhead.

"Finished," She remarked. "Garrus, give her a test start!"

In the next moment the Hammerhead sprung back to life and began to float off the surface of the ground once more. Somehow Kat had actually managed to get the thing working again. Given that the technology was so unlike regular UNSC vehicles, Chief was impressed.

"Great job, Kat, I knew you could do it." Shepard complimented.

"Thank Tali," the Spartan III responded. "She installed an omni-tool into this new arm of mine. The tools are perfect for making quick battlefield fixes. No need to dig around in my tool belt for one."

Shepard's continued praise would have to wait, as Cortana made them aware of one final obstacle.

"There's another dropship coming in fast and low people." She warned them all. "It's headed to the landing site of the first one again."

"Let them come." Garrus snorted. "We have a working Hammerhead again."

Tali looked a bit more angered than most. Chief wasn't sure if anyone else could tell, but the way her shoulders slumped and her head arched forward were a sign she wasn't happy about the news. He thought he could even hear a bit more angered breathing through her helmet.

"Bosh'tets just never give up." She growled. "Fine, it's time to make them pay for it then."

She turned to Shepard, a fury in her eyes.

"Shepard," she began, "I'll need you and the others to cover me while I get close to the dropship. I have a plan."

Shepard looked rather concerned over her demeanour.

"This wouldn't happen to be one of those risky super dangerous plans would it?" he asked her.

"Maybe," Tali admitted, "I learned some tips on how to pull those off by watching you though."

Shepard just gulped slightly and nodded his head.

"Alright, but the second there's trouble you abort." He ordered her.

"Don't worry, it will only take a few seconds to do." She assured.

The Hammerhead and Warthog moved up first, with Tali in step behind them, but only slightly. Chief traded his driver seat in the Warthog to Buck and made his way back to the small incline that overlooked the area. He had a perfect view of the landing site. Already the dropship was making a landing and the doors opened wide to let the various occupants out as it neared the surface. Chief watched as Tali took off to the left of the field in front of her while the vehicles went straight for the Covenant themselves. Those on foot used the Hammerhead and Hog as cover as they advanced. The Covenant inside were led by two elites from the looks of it. They bounded out of the dropship and charged like mad, determined to reach the rocks. Given all the firepower they had, this was a suicide run.

That wasn't the interesting part of the whole ordeal though. That distinction belonged to Tali who had managed to somehow close the distance between her and the dropship. She had used the Covenant's own single-minded pursuit of the crashed Marines against them. They saw the vehicles as more important than a single quarian from the looks of it. That still didn't explain what she was doing.

"I don't suppose you have any insights." Chief asked Cortana as he kept looking through the scope.

"Not a one, I'm in _your_ head, not hers." She replied simply.

As the dropship began to take off, Tali got close enough to it. The gunner was firing on the Warthog and Hammerhead, forcing them to fall back. Again, the quarian went unnoticed. Chief watched as Tali's hand went to something, clutching it hard in her three fingers. It looked some kind of Covenant satchel charge, he no idea where she had gotten that. It didn't matter, she was throwing it away. Her toss managed to get the charge inside the dropship just as the doors closed on it. Seconds later an explosion rocked the dropship from the inside.

The Covenant turned back in abject horror as they saw the dropship fall from the sky. One of the prongs that made up its U-shape had been ripped clean off and it suddenly crashed back towards the ground it had just left. Flames kicked up around it and Chief watched as Tali ran for cover.

"Wow, she must've been really pissed off." Cortana observed slightly shocked herself.

Chief was impressed more or less, but there were still Covenant on the field. He found the elites among the melee, engaging Shepard of course, who had charged clean into one of them with his biotics. As the other tried to take aim at the Normandy Commander, the Chief put a bullet through the Covie's head. He didn't need to see if Shepard had finished off the other one, he already knew he had. He put his focus on other targets through his scope, but it was clean-up duty. There was nothing to do now, but wait for the Pelican.

* * *

Jack was more than happy to leave the Pelican behind. She had just been hoping it wouldn't involve being stranded in the middle of a damn evergreen forest looking for help. It didn't help that her leg felt pretty bad. It wasn't broken, but she didn't like how she was having difficulty moving it a bit. Jacob looked to have busted his left arm and surprisingly, Thane was untouched. Just their luck the dying lizard happened to be the guy who walked out of a crashed Pelican unscathed.

"Lucky asshole." She thought to herself.

She took solace in the fact he wasn't gloating. She hated how he kept acting concerned. Every two seconds he kept asking if they needed to take a break. Like hell they were, she wasn't going to be blamed for holding people up. She wasn't some mulling child anymore. She had worse scrapes anyway. She could handle this. She just wanted them to get somewhere they could hold for awhile until they got rescued. The Justicar would be along eventually. She had to, she was compelled to, it was part of her code. At least she thought it was. Sometimes she thought that asari was even crazier than her.

Jacob was pretty much their only hope of finding some place to hide out until Samara came along. It would have to be someplace they could find of course, somewhere not too far from their pelican. Not a lot of choices in an alien forest, admittedly. It was just her luck the goody-two shoes former Alliance Corsair knew what he was doing. He had salvaged the beacon locator tech from the Pelican and with Thane's help plugged it into his omni-tool. It was ugly looking and cumbersome, but with any luck it would help them find another group of survivors they could shack up with.

"I'm still getting a faint signal." Jacob told them all. "Could be the trees blocking the beacon's broadcast. Let's just keep walking. Eventually it should clear up."

Thane suddenly stopped for a moment, he looked back. Jack for a moment thought this had to do with her again, but he was looking behind her into the woods. He then turned to Jacob.

"We're being followed." Thane told him.

"How far behind us?" he asked.

"I can't say for sure, but I can hear their rustling in the underbrush." He explained. "They can't be more than a few hundred yards behind us."

Damn, he was that good, huh? Jack wondered if it was another drell thing, like that super perfect memory they had. It was probably just some assassin thing, she guessed. Whatever, as long as it gave them a good few minutes of warning she'd accept it. It was weird though, seeing Jacob and Thane acting so chummy. They were usually pretty cold to one another. Maybe that was because the only other person they could talk to was her and she didn't want to talk back.

"If we have to make a stand, I'd prefer we find a spot we can actually hold." Jacob told the drell as they continued to walk. "This place is way too out in the open. Plus, we don't exactly have a lot of ammo to fight with."

"We have our biotics, but that probably won't get us very far." Thane added. "I find the Covenant are getting more and more used to our abilities."

Jack just snorted a laugh at Thane's concern.

"Maybe yours Lizard Lips, but I don't need guns to fuck bitches up." She assured. "Let alone these dipshits."

"You'd do well to not underestimate the enemy, Jack." Thane warned. "After all, that had been the Covenant's weakness so far."

Oh please, was he trying to pretend he was Shepard or something? Cause he was really bad at it. Jack rolled her eyes at the cliché little tactical advice.

"Look I was in a cult once." She informed him with an aggressive look. "They were a bunch of fanatical, stupid, crazy idiots who did stupid shit and died in numerous fast and dirty ways. Some of those deaths were caused by me when I finally left. These Covenant are no different, they just got fancier guns and even more retarded agenda. Don't tell me I shouldn't underestimate them, I know what they are and I'm not impressed."

"Glassing countless worlds doesn't impress you?" Jacob asked her curiously.

Oh so that's how he was playing it then. Well she wasn't about to get all weepy over that. Yeah, Reach was terrible, but no way in hell she was going to give Miranda's Ex a win here. She already had a slightly busted leg, that was all he was going to get, nothing more. She refused to let them get psychoanalytical with her. Shepard had tried that, didn't work, she wasn't about to let them in either.

"No, it doesn't." Jack said with a straight face. "You know why? Because anyone with a big enough laser gun can do that. They don't scare me. Not one bit."

"Not even the brutes?" Thane asked.

Jack looked at him incredulously. She couldn't find a good argument to counter. She couldn't say anything. Even she couldn't lie that blatantly.

"Fuck you, Thane." She said to him with a grunt. "Just shut up and keep listening for the fuck-heads following us."

Suddenly, Jacob's omni-tool began to beep wildly, pointing them off in a direction off the beaten path.

"Another lifeboat, close by!" He said with glee. "Quick, let's get off this road and cover our tracks. With any luck we'll be able to lead them off our trail."

Well, it was a plan and it stopped that conversation cold. A good sign, in Jack's opinion, that things were starting to look up for her.

* * *

Foe Hammer proved to be a welcomed sight once more. Her Pelican descended from on high in the middle of the small valley while the others looked on. She also told them all she had spotted two other lifeboats in the area, which meant more survivors. This meant, of course, that they had more work to do. As the Pelican picked up the Marines and Crewmen for dust-off, everyone who opted to stay and finish the mission gathered around the crashed Covenant dropship, their vehicles nearby.

"Nice work on taking out the dropship, Tali." Garrus complimented. "At least we won't have to worry about this guy coming back to haunt us."

Tali overlooked her handiwork. The fires had more or less died down around the crashed ship. The doors to its insides lay bare for all to see. The elite pilot hung precariously outside the cockpit window like a ragdoll.

"Well I had to use that satchel charge on something." She shrugged.

"Let's just hope we don't have to do that again in the near future." Shepard added. "Great job regardless. We still have a few problems though. Along with saving those lifeboat survivors we have communications down so we're barely able to contact anyone and then there is the new husks we gotta deal with."

Garrus put one of those concerns to rest.

"With any luck that Phantom was carrying all the spitfires for this area." He suggested. "Blowing it up probably fixed that issue."

Tali looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Spitfires?"

"Yeah, we're still nicknaming them, remember?" Garrus replied, confused at her questioning statement.

"We had taken to calling them Firecrackers to be honest." Kasumi explained.

Garrus' face sunk at the revelation.

"But... I name the husks. I named the Centipede, the Reavers, I decided to call those big Hunter things Titans-"

"Six named the Gremlins." Kat was quick to point out. "I don't think you have a monopoly on giving the husks names."

"Can we all sort this out AFTER we save the Marines?" Cortana asked them all.

Everyone quieted down a bit after that. Shepard smiled a bit. Perhaps he was happy he didn't have to be the one to get people back on track this time. Chief could relate. There had been so many times when his team had gotten distracted with little things.

"Thank you, Cortana." The Commander said with a little nod. "Now then, we need to focus on communications first and foremost. The length of time it's taking us to get into contact with UNSC command and to even call for pick-up is unacceptable. We are not getting swarmed again."

"It could be another Covenant jamming device like on Reach." Kat suggested. "That messed with our comms significantly."

"I don't know," Buck cut in, "this seems less sophisticated. We can pick up the beacons on the lifeboats just fine and if we're close enough to each other we can still talk over the radio. I'm thinking whatever this is it's more localised for a smaller area."

The Sergeant's suggestion suddenly set off Mordin, who had been contemplating silently to himself up until now.

"Device localised. Static blocks all UNSC and Normandy channels. Does not interfere with lower tier tracking systems like beacons. Obviously to insure Covenant do not lose signals either. Need them to track survivors. Not hacking device. Must be form of overloading communication lines. Localised to a particular area of interest. Most likely carried on person. Yes, yes, very rudimentary, not designed for black out but to disrupt organization attempts. Clever, too clever for Covenant, unlikely they would consider strategy to hunt down humans. Suggests other alternative." Mordin finally took a breath, "Possible origin of device not Covenant."

Which left only one other alien species, one they knew was working closely with the Covenant, one they had seen on the _Autumn _itself.

"Batarians must've shared their tech with the Covenant." Shepard reasoned, not sounding all that surprised. "You have an idea what we're looking for then, Mordin?"

"Yes, but unlikely to locate soon enough." He explained. "Marine survivors will not last long. Waste of time searching valley for singular Covenant wearing device."

"I don't think we'll have to." Tali piped up, a bit of glint her eye as an idea popped in her head.

The quarian turned momentarily towards the dropship, eyeing the large bulbous middle piece at the back of the U-shape that made up the cockpit. She then turned to the Master Chief, stretching out an open palm.

"Chief, I'll need Cortana for a moment." She said.

It was a weird request to be sure. Keyes had entrusted him with Cortana's safety. He trusted Tali, but he wanted to be sure. Almost as if anticipating his next question, Cortana reassured him.

"Go ahead, Chief." She told him. "I think I know what she has in mind."

Carefully, Chief removed Cortana's AI Chip from his helmet and placed her into Cortana's hand. The quarian in turn plugged her into a port on her suit that was connected to her omni-tool. The AI appeared once more on top of the wrist mounted device, albeit much smaller than she had appeared on the _Autumn_.

"Wow, this thing has almost as much processing power as one of the _Autumn's _computer hubs." Cortana said as she looked around the little device.

"Several hundred exabytes to be exact," Tali clarified, "it gets the job done. Now then let's get working."

Tali walked on over to the crashed dropship. She scanned her hand over the ship for a few moments before she spotted the panel she was apparently looking for. She pulled it off to reveal a small box-like device beneath. Before long, both she and Cortana were mumbling to themselves techno talk that those around her could barely hear. Several electronic beeps and omni-tool command types rounded out the sounds that came from the two as they worked.

"Any idea what they're saying to each other?" Buck asked Kat, leaning over to whisper his question to her.

"You probably wouldn't get most of it anyway." Kat answered in kind.

Eventually Tali and Cortana seemed to finish their work and they turned back to the group at large. They both seemed rather pleased with themselves. Tali's silvery eyes, visible even through her purple visor, shared an almost strange resemblance to Cortana's own prideful gleam. Chief knew, from that look alone, they were all about to get an ear full of techie talk.

"What exactly did you two do?" Garrus asked, breaking the ice.

"I realised once Mordin pointed out the jamming device was from our universe that it has an exploitable flaw in its systems." Tali began to explain. "Our Migrant Fleet Marines had been experimenting with signal jammers for some of their more covert operations. If the ones the batarians provided to the Covenant work on the same principle then they need to be given a set frequency code. They're non-discriminate otherwise. The jammer blocks everything, unless the user inputs the precise frequency code of their own communications. Then the device to just ignore that frequency and broadcast the static to everything else."

"That explains why the Covenant Battlenet is still operational when it should be getting whitewashed itself." Cortana continued. "It interferes with the only two communication frequencies it can't recognize, the Normandy's and the UNSC command channels. Effectively it makes long range communication impossible, overloading all our channels with feedback. But the nature of how it keeps itself from doing that to the user's comms makes it highly vulnerable to a little old infiltration trick. If we can disguise our communication channels as something the broadcaster will recognize it will ignore us and our comms will be usable again over long range."

Tali brought up an image on her omni-tool beside Cortana. It showed the same box-like object that she had been working on.

"This was the dropship's internal communications data box." She began to explain. "With Cortana's help I was able to crack it open and take a few lines of code from the systems. Just enough to disguise our frequencies to the jamming device, making them appear as if they were Covenant in origin."

"Rendering their little massive snow job broadcast completely ineffective!" said Shepard, sounding incredibly impressed. "Tali, what would we do without you?"

Chief wondered for a second if Tali was blushing under that helmet of hers, she quickly snapped out of it though.

"Most of the credit should go to Cortana. She's more familiar Covenant systems, I just wrote up the frequency cloaking program." The quarian humbly admitted. "Of course she still needs to use the signal before we can figure out if it works. That requires a UNSC comm-link to be honest."

Chief saw his cue, and stretched out his hand to take back Cortana. Tali pulled her from her omni-tool and placed her gently back into the Spartan's care. It took a few seconds after reinstalling her into his head for Cortana to attempt the feat. Before long though she was warmly bringing some much needed good news.

"I have an established link to command!" She said jubilantly. "They're already setting up shop in an abandoned structure a few hundred miles from our current position. I'll see what I can learn from them about our status."

"See if you can establish links to any of the survivors in our area." Shepard added. "Not to mention the Normandy and the rest of our crew. If we can share this frequency cloak we can get command and control up and operational before the Covenant realise we've just rendered their little smokescreen useless. Then we can pick up our people in no time."

"I'll try Commander," Cortana agreed, "in the meantime let's move out to the head of the river. That's the closest lifeboat to us if Foe Hammer's intel is accurate."

Without another word everyone loaded up into the vehicles and set out. They had spent enough time on this as it was. Chief just hoped they weren't too late.

* * *

AN: I know I said I was going to go with whatever got more votes, which turned out to be Spitfire, but someone else suggested another name during the process. He suggested I call the new husk grunts Firecrackers. Not wanting to look like a jerk by ignoring the vote like some Banana Republic Dictator, I decided I'd go for another round of votes. Do you prefer Firecracker or do you want to stick with Spitfire? Make your choice.

The next chapter will be up in a few days... mostly because I had to split this one. We'll be wrapping up this mission of the game with that update. Looking forward to it. Please review in the meantime.


	7. Longshots

Chapter 6: Longshots

Linda scanned the woods ahead of them. So far no movement, but that could change in a heartbeat with the Covenant about. They were still a few clicks away from the beacon. If only the lifeboat had landed in a clearing instead of a densely packed forest. From what she could tell it was approximately close to a rather large tree that towered over the canopy. With any luck the Marines had somehow managed to use the overgrown sprout as cover. It would be hard hoofing it back to the landing zone with all the Marines in tow regardless. First things first though, she had to find them.

She contacted Jun for a report.

"I'm clear here, any sign of activity on your end?" she asked him as she slowly moved through the brush.

"Negative, motion tracker is clean." He replied. "Kinda wish we brought a jetpack. We could get above these trees and into a better vantage point."

"The beacon isn't much further." Linda assured him. "We should be getting something on our scopes soon."

Linda wasn't used to having a spotter. She'd always been something of a lone wolf when it came to sniping missions. But she knew, even though she was good enough to now need one, it was still smart enough to have one. She was just happy that Jun was as good as he claimed. They had already located two other squads in the area and got them up to the Normandy. In that timeframe, Jun had capped two elites in the head with one shot, took out a jackal sniper hiding in some rocks and killed three grunts in one shot. She could only assume he was using a special kind of ammo, probably the expensive kind. At the very least it seemed to motivate him to make each shot worth every credit.

They soon closed in on the giant tree. From Linda's angle she could only see the towering stump and several large roots sticking out of the ground. There were a few rocks off to the side, but she couldn't see any sign of the lifeboat or the Marines. Maybe Jun had a visual from his position.

"I'm near the beacon, can you see the lifeboat?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm looking at it through my scope right now." Jun answered her. "It's crashed into one of the upturned roots, but it's in relatively good shape."

"What about the Marines?" She enquired.

A few seconds passed before Jun replied.

"I see them." He spoke up, quickly but still whispering. "Looks like the tree's roots form a hollow space of some kind under the main trunk, the Marines are huddling inside."

Linda circled around as Jun explained the situation. She needed a vantage point of her own. She kept her eyes on the trees above as she moved though. Chances were the Marines were taking shelter from something. If there were Covenant nearby, then the lack of shooting could only mean one thing.

"Any sign of enemy snipers?" Linda asked Jun as she made her way around the trunk.

"I'm seeing some burns on the tree from here, could be plasma." Jun answered back.

Linda soon reached a good little vantage point, a small log resting against an evergreen. She looked through her scope and sure enough saw the Marines huddled in their little shelter. The plasma burns were all over the tree's front. It wasn't hard to tell what weapon had made them. She had seen that kind of plasma scaring before.

"Found one." Jun updated suddenly. "One jackal, he's sitting atop one of the trees further back, across from the lifeboat, V-shape branches."

Linda followed the direction, tracing the plasma scoring back towards the area indicated to help her further. Sure enough she spotted the jackal, his beam-rifle still aiming down straight at the Marines' position. Where there was one jackal there were usually more, so she searched the surrounding area. She spotted one taking cover behind a tree, slightly exposed. Another was nearby, his rifle laid against a rock face, still staring at the Marines. She reported their positions to Jun.

"If they're not going in for the kill they must be waiting for back-up." Jun surmised. "That means we don't have a lot of time before more Covenant arrive to finish the Marines off."

For all they knew they had no time left at all. Depending on when they made that call for reinforcements the elites could be marching through the woods right this second. They needed to exfiltrate this area and fast.

"I don't think they know we're here yet." She surmised while she spoke to the Spartan III. "But I'm positive there's more out there than just those three."

"Tree is pretty burned up from a lot of plasma shots." Jun seemingly agreed. "If there are more we'll need to draw them out."

She had already come up with a plan.

"Hold your fire and watch the trees, if I take out the first three on my own that should get their attention." She began to explain. "He'll probably locate me by then and try to fire on my position. When he does you can zero in on him. He'll be too focused on keeping me pinned to look for you."

"That's pretty risk, Five-Eight." Jun warned her. "If he gets a bead on you you'll be open to a clean hit. You sure you don't wanna at least relocate between shots?"

"I got good cover and my shields will hold out." Linda assured him. "We need to give him a chance to take a shot or we won't find him. Just watch the trees, I'll be fine."

She knew this whole plan went against everything in the sniper's handbook and she'd never try it on her own. But she was dug in enough to give her some confidence in the idea, however little. She quickly set up the rifle for the shot, placing her crosshairs on the Jackal in the tree.

The alien was barely visible except to the trained eye. He was covered in the foliage and leaves of the tree, his feet and claws the only parts you could see clearly. Linda could also see his rifle though and managed to track the gun's barrel up to find his eye peering down the scope through the branches. Once she took the shot it wouldn't be long before his friends figured out what was happening, so she'd have to be quick.

She fired the shot and watched as the jackal's head went back and his body slumped out of the tree. The one near taking cover by the tree looked over as he heard his friend fall. Linda quickly moved her crosshairs to him and fired center mass. The jackal fell to the ground, his guts blown wide open. Linda moved to the next target near the rocks just in time to see him taking aim. She fired again and caught him in the neck. The jackal fell over, clutching desperately at the wound.

With three jackals down, Linda ducked low into cover, falling on her back. A few more seconds and she would've been hit in the shoulder by a plasma beam. It ripped through the bark of the tree and log. She watched the blue beam sail across her plain of vision. From the angle it came from she quickly determined where the shot had been fired and notified Jun.

"He's on my eleven and your one." She quickly informed him.

"I got him on scope, thanks." Jun hastily replied.

Linda rolled to the side slightly and looked around the evergreen to see Jun take his shot. She had to watch his back now after all. The jackal took the bullet to the small of his back and stumbled out of his tree top. When he hit the ground dead, Linda bolted up from her position and moved. She dashed over to another tree and slammed her back into the trunk. Then she heard another plasma shot.

"Another one!" Jun called out anxiously. "He just grazed my shields! He's bounding!"

Linda pulled out of cover and looked through the scope into the trees. She could see the jackal jumping from branch to branch, trying to flank around Jun. He wouldn't get that far. She watched his movements, followed his path and moved her crosshairs over the next likely jump. The jackal leapt from his tree but he would never land in his new perch. Linda fired one shot and it pierced clean through his eye. The jackal fell dead to the forest floor in a heap.

"He's down." Linda informed Jun. "You see anymore?"

Jun took a moment to examine the trees before he answered.

"None, we're clear." He assured her.

With that done they moved to secure the Marines, who were shaken but alive more or less. Unfortunately, there were only four. The rest had either died in the crash or were lying in a pool of blood with a hole in their skulls. Nevertheless, the Marines were grateful.

"We thought we were going to die out here." A private said as he scrambled out of the hole. "Thanks Spartans."

While she appreciated the gratitude, there wasn't much time to bask in it. They were not out of the literal woods yet after all.

"We need to pull back to the shuttle for evac." Linda informed them. "Follow me and keep your eyes up."

The Mariens fell into formation as Linda contacted the Normandy. The signal was still choppy, barely getting through, but it got through nonetheless. Damn static, the sooner they got rid of it the better.

"Lawson, we found another batch of Marines." She informed the Normandy XO. "Get ready for pick-up."

"Excellent," Miranda's grainy distorted voice replied, "we're holding position to the south of your location. We've picked up another beacon. It's far off and just barely showing on our scanners, but we're checking it out. You're free to continue searching your area."

"We'll send the Marines back on the second shuttle and head to next closest beacon then." Linda replied. "We'll keep you apprised of our progress. Zero-Five-Eight, out."

It would be a bit of a hike back to the shuttle, but they'd make it. She just hoped they'd be faster with the next batch of survivors. That they wouldn't lose so many before they arrived. But this day hadn't exactly been going there way so far, why would the next hour or two prove different?

* * *

Jack ran out of the forest, following Jacob and Thane as they made headway to a small box shaped structure in the middle of the small valley below them. It was a puny little building, with what looked to be little outstretching tips around the edges, resembling tips on a crown or the battlements of a castle. Some castle, Jack thought, it was barely even one story off the ground. Besides a few odd trees in the clearing down below, along with a log and some rocks, there wasn't much to say about the area. The only other thing worth mentioning was the slight hill which they had to descend in order to reach the building.

"I don't like this." Thane said as they hurried down. "The area is surrounded by high ground. If the Covenant follows us they'll have a tactical advantage."

"Better than being out in the open I say." Jacob replied back.

As they got closer to the structure they saw the crashed lifeboat just a few feet away from the building on its north side. They also heard a gunshot fire clean over their heads. They ducked and looked down to see a small squad of UNSC soldiers, their guns trained on their position.

"Identify yourselves!" one of them ordered.

"Well we ain't Covenant you dumbasses!" Jack shouted back at them. "Do we look like aliens to you?"

Thane gave her a slight dry look at that comment, which she quickly brushed off.

"You know what I meant, stop fucking staring at me." Jack growled at the drell. "Your big black eyes are creepy."

A grimacing Thane looked back to the UNSC soldiers. The small squad carefully motioned them over, their guns still trained on the group until they came into full view. They could see the group was a mixture of Marines and some of Holland's Army men, an odd grouping to be sure.

"We were starting to wonder if we were the only ones who made it." said the Marine at the head of the little group. "With comms down we expected the worst."

Jacob gave the small squad of soldiers a good once over, peering behind them.

"This all your men?" He asked.

"Most of us are inside the structure." The Marine replied. "We're on rotation guard. These army boys had their own lifeboat, crashed down about mile east of here and trekked here. Other than them, you're the only other people we've seen in hours. I guess we're kinda jumpy, been waiting for the Covenant to attack us forever."

Jack still wasn't about to forgive that warning shot. Honestly, their guns had scopes and shit. How hard would it be to tell if the thing running down the hill was a human or not? She did her best to compose herself though. These were probably the only people within miles of here that actually had a place they could hold up in for awhile. It was best not to antagonize them. Sure, she could crush all their heads like watermelons if they tried to throw her out, but then Shepard would probably be pissed and leave her stranded out here. What was it he always said? Being part of a team means you don't always get your own way?

Damn it, she thought, now she was starting to remember his speeches. Worse, she was actually following his advice. This Normandy shit had made her soft.

"Anyway, come inside." The head Marine told them all. "We're in this together for now it seems."

"Well don't worry," Jacob assured him, "we have some of our own friends on the way. May not be an evac, but we'll probably get moved to somewhere more secure. We just gotta hope they find us."

As she stepped over the log, following the others as they headed inside the structure, another thought occurred to Jack. She probably should've mentioned it earlier, what with how small and pathetic this little fort in the middle of nowhere was.

"So, uh, speaking of the Covenant, you guys sure we can hold them off if they show up?" Jack asked them.

"Place doesn't look like much but it can hold out any kind of siege." The Marine assured. "In any case, we can't do much else but wait for them to show up I guess."

At that moment, Jack thought she heard a shot. She recognized it as something a batarian gun, back in the day when the four eyed bastards on Omega had taken a few shots at her. One of the Army boys fell dead to the ground just in front of her, his head was just gone.

The shot woke the UNSC soldiers up and they went immediately into fight mode. The problem was they didn't know where they shot came from and were frantically scanning the surrounding area in fear. The few seconds they wasted with that came at a cost. Jack watched as the Marine they had been talking to took a hit to his shoulder. A horrible gash had been torn into his flesh. Jacob caught the man as he fell, screaming in pain, clutching at the massive bleeding gash. Jack looked up to the only place the shot could've come from. It was on the opposite side of the hill and it was a hell of a lot of jackals.

Instinctively, Jack's biotics flared, but there was little she could do at this angle and distance. Jacob yelled, 'get inside' but she could barely hear him over her own thoughts. It wasn't shock or fear like the Marines and Army men were experiencing, no it was elation. Finally she thought, a way to relieve the pent up aggression from the Pelican crash. Regardless, she followed the others inside and to safety. She'd get her chance to show these fuckers what kind of damage she could do soon enough.

* * *

Zek gave the rifle a good once over when his shot was completed. It was hard to tell if he was impressed or still weighing his opinions. Normally, Varvok wouldn't care too much if someone liked a gun or not, but this was different. This was a batarian made weapon, and Balak did want him to impress upon the Covenant how good an ally they were, what they could offer, what they could give. Although, Zek probably didn't give a crap one way or another given what he now knew of the kig-yar's political opinions.

"Hmm, impressive destructive capability." Zek finally said. "Capacity is a drawback. Only one shot and I have to put another of these... what do you call these?"

Zek eyed the thermal clip in a rather confused manner. He was used to power batteries and snipers that fired precise shots of energy. Thermal clips were new to him, as was the Kishock harpoon gun. Varvok knew he'd have to be careful if he wanted to sell it to Zek.

"They're thermal clips." He explained. "A lot easier than waiting around for your gun to get recharged when it goes dead, I say. Besides, a seasoned sniper only needs one shot, doesn't he?"

"True, but it doesn't hurt to have a little extra back up in the chamber either. Just in case." Zek replied, seemingly unconvinced.

He handed the harpoon gun back to the batarian and took out a small knife. He scratched another line onto his armour, marking another. Then he said something that contradicted his previous seemingly dismissive comment.

"My men wouldn't mind a few of them though." He told Varvok, putting the knife away. "I'll stick to my Type-50 for now. It's a lot more... elegant."

Varvok would have to take that for now, he supposed, better than being outright ignored. Even if Zek still preferred his Beam Rifle, his men would take the Kishocks and that would go a long way towards improving relations with the Covenant. If they saw how effective their weapons were in battle, then they'd probably want more from them. Then Balak could ask more of them.

For now, they had humans to hunt down though. Their little fortress wouldn't be too hard to crack. They couldn't be more than a ten or so inside. The addition of the three survivors from the Pelican that they had tracked here still meant the odds were in their favour. Varvok was just happy that they had headed towards the lifeboat they had detected earlier. Otherwise they'd probably have been taken too far off their route when the Pelican turned up empty.

"My men can flank them from the east while yours move to their front and pin them down." Varvok suggested. "We can crush them between the two of us."

"Nah," Zek said waving his hand at the thought. "I got a better idea. We hang back, hit them from afar."

Varvok was disgruntled by the kig-yar's play it safe strategy. He probably didn't give a crap about any of this, but he had a mission. He had to impress upon the Covenant his value. What made Zek think he was suddenly in charge anyway?

"They are a smaller inferior force!" he shouted at Zek. "This is not the time to play it safe! Now is the time for action!"

Zek was unshaken by the shouting match. He remained adamant in his strategy.

"I work on a policy of doing the least amount of work possible, getting the least amount of my people killed while still getting the job done." Zek explained. "Look, move your men closer to their lines. Get in cover around those trees and rocks to their one side. My people will provide sniper cover to keep their heads down. You draw them out and we'll put them down. Easy, quick and doesn't require me to charge into certain death."

Varvok glared at the kig-yar, his strategy was hardly ideal.

"So my men do all the work while yours get most of the kills?" he asked.

"Nonsense Varvok," Zek assured. "You get to show the Supreme Commander you can fight like a Sangheili. Up close, dirty, personal and all that other warrior crap. He'll be impressed with that, trust me, you may even get a medal for slaughtering them all. You get more credit if you assault them by yourselves, using your own weapons."

Varvok was still sceptical, but he supposed if the kig-yar were as good snipers as their reputations claimed he could give Zek's little plan a chance.

"Alright," Varvok relented, "but the second something goes wrong your men are to move to their right and split their focus."

"How about if I send in my shield carrying people early then?" he asked "That way, if something does go wrong you won't lose sniper cover."

A strange, and sudden, compromise, one that made Varvok raise his two left eyebrows just a bit.

"And you're offering that why?" he asked Zek.

"To show you I can actually be a reasonable kind of guy." Zek replied with a grin. "Now get moving already, I got notches to carve and you're holding it up."

Varvok finally led his troops down the hillside. Zek's shield carrying troops moved to the right, their guns at the ready. Zek stood on the hill, his beam rifle out and aiming down at the little structure. This would be Varvok's first real bit of combat in the field with a member of the Covenant assisting him. He hoped it would go right.

* * *

Halfway to where they presumed the Pelican had crashed and they could hear gunfire off in the distance. That was never a good sign. The Covenant had caught up with Jacob's group. Although from the sound of the exchanging gunfire, they had also caught up with more of their fellow Marines. Which meant that now there were even more lives at stake and counting on them to come to the rescue. Kowalski just groaned in utter despair. From sound of the fighting, they couldn't have been more than a mile away at this point. More importantly, it sounded like there were a lot of Covenant.

"Well this just turned from mildly difficult to super hard in a flash." Kowalski growled verbally.

"Life is rarely kind to us." Samara informed him. "Rising to the challenge shows one's character."

Kowalski looked up at the asari, trying his best not to sarcastically mock her sage advice. It really wasn't the time for it. Luckily, even she knew that and took time to share her own concerns with Sergeant Taylor.

"Sergeant, we will need another strategy." She informed him. "We cannot simply slip back to base, nor can we overwhelm them. We must find a way to disrupt their attack before we reveal ourselves."

"Surprise is all we got at the moment." Taylor told the Asari. "I suppose we could flank them from behind, but we'll need to get closer before I commit to anything."

As the gunfire raged ahead of them, the small group of would be rescuers weighed their options. Grunt of course called for the most direct approach, mainly running in and crushing the enemy beneath their heels. That was tabled on the back burner quickly. Kowalski had no input at first, for the most he followed, he winged it and he hoped he got out alive.

That changed rather suddenly. Samara was already refining Taylor's plan of flanking when the Private heard a strange sound from the underbrush. He looked towards the trees and bushes. Something, just barely audible over the gunfire, was close by. Kowalski walked over to take a look, and almost immediately regretted it. Sitting in a small little clearing were a group of those armless blind raptor-things. They were gnawing at some kind of carcass ravenously, possibly one of the spike backs they had taken down. Kowalski couldn't tell; the corpse was just unrecognizable.

"Uh, guys." He said, raising his voice slightly.

He didn't know if his fellows heard him, but the creatures did. They turned all at once and growled in his direction. They scratched at the soil beneath their feet and roared loudly. Yet they also backed away, huddling around their kill. Before long the others had caught onto the noise themselves and crowded around Kowalski. When they saw what he was looking at, everyone pointed their guns at the things.

"Christ, these things again." Ellingham sneered.

"What are they?" Ramirez asked, as this was his first time laying eyes on them after all.

"Annoying little bastards who almost ate us." Ellingham informed him. "Let's kill them quick before they decide to lead us on another friggin chase through the woods."

Kowalski was prepared to do the same thing, but noticed something odd. They weren't attacking, not like they had before. They were protecting their food, and huddling together. From what Kowalski could see, behind the creatures was a large rock and in front of them a bunch of Marines with itchy trigger fingers. He didn't know why, but something told him these things still remembered how things turned out for them last time.

"Wait a second." He told the others, trying to convince to stay their hand. "I don't think they want to mess with us."

"They're baring their teeth at us, Kowalski!" Ellingham pointed out to him with another sneer. "What do you think that means?"

"They're like wild dogs, Ellingham." Kowalski replied eagerly. "They're protecting their kill. They must remember what happened to their friend when Legion plugged him. They're already scared of us."

The creatures continued to huddle around their kill, snapping their giant jaws and growling in anger, trying to scare them all off. Neither side of course budged.

"They do appear more defensive now than before." Samara concurred, lowering her own weapon. "Still, we should practice caution. They are still wild animals and still dangerous."

Suddenly, from that one little sentence, Kowalski got an idea.

"Hey, wait a minute." He began to process aloud. He turned to towards the Justicar with thoughtful look. "Sam, you said we needed to disrupt their attack right?"

The Asari merely nodded.

"Well, what if we had ourselves a little distraction?" he asked her.

Samara's gaze turned back to the vicious looking blind creatures as they continued to growl and scratch at the dirt. It was risky to be sure, but no worse than trying to assault a larger Covenant force alone. Perhaps Kowalski underestimated himself. He did have some good tactical ideas, once in awhile.

* * *

The Warthog flew into the air, ramping itself off the tip of the slope. It crashed down onto the side of the hill on all four wheels. The suspension sent the Master Chief out of his seat for a moment, but his grip on the steering wheel remained tight. When he settled back into his seat, he went full throttle towards the looming structure before him. There was heavy foliage to the right of the structure that occupied the head of the river, but there was a clear enough path up to hills that overlooked the small valley. And as Cortana pointed out, and from what he could see of the gunfire raging above, that was exactly where he needed to be.

The Hammerhead was right behind the Warthog, already firing missiles like mad. Not to hit anything, just to scare the various Covenant that were currently attacking the Marine's position on the top of the hill. In his own mad dash to get up to the top he ended running down one of the grunts in his wake. The little gas sucker crunched under the Warthog, again the suspension compensated. An elite fired after the Hog, but the gunner spooked him back into cover quickly. The Hammerhead made it halfway up the hill before it turned around sharply and launched a barrage of missiles at the Covenant position.

The Hog rolled over the crest of the hill and finally arrived at in the midst of the Marines. It drove to the center of the hilltop while the Hammerhead rested itself along the edge. Everyone piled out, taking up positions along the hill's ridge as the assemblage of Marines rallied around them. In particular, the towering green armoured Spartan who climbed out of the Warthog.

"You're a sight for sore eyes, Master Chief." One of the Marines greeted, walking beside the Spartan in step. "We're in a bad way. We got a lot of wounded here."

Chief gave a quick look around, propped up around the rocks were the Marines in question. Already Mordin was giving them a look over, administering medi-gel to everyone. That salarian sure packed a lot of the stuff. The "never hurts to be prepared" saying seemed to apply to all species. Still, they would all need to be evacuated and soon. Luckily, Cortana was already on it.

"I've already called a dropship to come pick them up." The AI said. "We just need to hold out."

"With these reinforcements and us holding the high ground that should be easy enough." Shepard noted with his pistol at the ready.

Chief looked around at lines of defence the group had formed. Garrus had gotten out of the Hammerhead, trading places with Kat who now took up the turret. He was already firing down into the cluster of trees just below them. The Hammerhead's barrage apparently had not killed all the Covenant attackers in one stroke. They'd correct that soon enough.

"Yeah, but not all of us are up here." The Marine continued. "We got a sniper down below on the structure."

It was then that Chief spotted Buck, who stood out from the others for he had his gun to his side instead of at the ready. He seemed transfixed on the structure below and had been even before the Marine had mentioned the sniper. When the Spartan walked over to see what the Sergeant was looking at he figured out why that was. There was an ODST pod that had crashed down on the second level of the structure. They hadn't seen it on their way in as it was covered by the familiar large flaring generator that stretched up into the sky from the middle of building. It didn't take long for the sergeant to voice the obvious.

"Who was in that pod?" he asked frantically at one of the Marines.

"Some ODST named Romeo I think." The Marine explained. "He said he was gonna use the building as a sniping position and keep them off us. I think he's hurt, the last radio we got from him sounded bad."

Already Chief could tell what Buck was about to do. The sergeant checked his SMG magazine and cocked the firing pin back. The Spartan held his shoulder in place before he could run off though.

"You'll need some help getting to him." Chief told the Drop Trooper. "That structure is going to be in between two potential Covenant landing zones for their reinforcements on either side."

"Will accompany you." Mordin spoke up, his eyes shooting up from one of his battlefield patients. "Romeo may require medical treatment."

"I can lend an extra gun to the fight." Kat added as well.

Chief was somewhat surprised by the Spartan III's offer of assistance. Mordin was almost a given, considering how he was playing medic so much today. Speaking for himself, Master Chief just didn't want to leave a soldier behind. But ODSTs and Spartans rarely mixed well, and he didn't expect Kat to stick her neck out so much for one. Given what she had gone through, however, maybe her reasons were similar that of his own. Whatever the case, Buck agreed to the help.

"Alright then, guess I can't really say no since you both outrank me." Buck admitted to the Spartans. He looked to his fellow Drop Trooper with a commanding glare. "Stay here until I get back, Dutch. They'll need the extra firepower with us gone."

"Just get Rome back up here, sir." Dutch replied. "We'll keep you covered best we can."

Getting to Rome would be a challenge. There was already a Covenant dropship on approach by the time they were ready to go. It sped towards the ground, eager to reinforce their beleaguered comrades on the ground. They would need to be quick out there, the chance of getting cut off from the hilltop increased every second they spent dawdling.

They made their run towards the structure while those who remained on the hilltop provided cover fire. They were able to keep the Covenant still within the trees pinned down, but that wouldn't stop the freshly arrived Covenant from coming up on their right. A single jackal crested the edge of the slope, firing a fully charged plasma bolt at the group. Kat took the hit. Her shields were able to keep her from taking too much damage. Whether she felt any pain from the hit couldn't be determined. She fired back at the jackal with her pistol as she ran. The alien already had his shield up, so the bullets bounced harmlessly off the energy barrier. The jackal remained huddled behind his protection as he slowly pressed forward, followed by two others of his kind as well as two grunts. The group managed to make it to structure, taking cover behind its towering middle section, but the plasma bolts were already striking close to their position.

"We need to discourage them a little." Buck said aloud, bringing out a grenade.

"Make it quick, I'll cover you." Kat told him.

The Spartan III leaned out of cover just enough to get a few good shots in on the jackals. Their shields protected them of course, but they were distracted enough for Buck to roll out a grenade into the midst. The resulting explosion took the jackals by complete surprise. Even their shields couldn't stand up to the crushing punishment of the grenade's blast. The jackal at the head of the advancing group was killed instantly by the shrapnel, as were the two grunts advancing with him. The other two jackals were far enough back that they only ended up get thrown back, their shields being knocked out by the attack.

With their backs covered for the moment the group pressed on to the front of the structure's overlook. They found Romeo, with a plasma burn on his leg and a dead grunt not but a few feet away from him. Buck and Mordin were the first ones on him. The salarian gave him a quick once over with his omni-tool.

"Detected heartbeat." He said. "He's alive."

Buck knocked the side of Romeo's helmet once.

"Rome, hey, you there?" he asked quickly.

The injured ODST woke up with a start, seeing Buck and Mordin looking him over.

"Ugh, Buck?" he asked as his head turned.

"It's me, hang on, stay awake, we're gonna get you out of here." Buck promised.

Romeo looked to his leg wound. The armour around it was seared black. He shook his head, grasping it with his hand.

"Damn, I must've blacked out for a second." He groaned, following it up with an immediate sharp gasp of pain. He clutched his leg as Mordin made a move to administer medi-gel. "This is embarrassing, surprised by a god damn gas sucker."

Chief stepped over, crouching down to keep his head in cover while he looked at the wounded ODST. At least he was still lucid, but getting him back on that leg would be difficult.

"Someone is going to have to carry him back up to the hilltop." He told them all. "Otherwise he's not going anywhere."

Romeo finally noticed both him and Kat now, and although his visor's tinted mode was still active Chief could tell exactly what he was thinking. In fact, Romeo made sure everyone knew what he was thinking..

"Son of a bitch, saved by Spartans." He growled. "My day keeps getting worse."

"You're welcome." Kat replied in a deadpan tone of voice. She turned to Buck unflinchingly. "Get him on his feet."

Buck nodded and helped Romeo up, putting his arm over his shoulder.

"We don't tell the Major about this, okay?" Romeo requested of Buck.

"Shut up, Romeo." Buck ordered as they began to make their way back. "You're lucky that she isn't reprimanding you for insubordination towards a superior officer right now."

Whether that would keep Romeo quiet would never be answered, only a few steps into their way back and they soon encountered trouble. Mordin turned back suddenly, firing his pistol. Everyone else soon saw why as the jackals had returned, now acting as extra cover for their own commanding officer, an elite wearing blue armour. He began to fire his plasma rifle alongside his subordinates. Chief pushed Buck forward as he and Kat took up defensive positions.

"Get him to the hilltop." He ordered the sergeant. "We'll hold them off."

With Romeo over his shoulder, Buck had no choice but to follow the command. Mordin fell back with him, compensating Buck's inability to shoot at the moment. Kat and Chief kept themselves between the elite and their retreating comrades in the meantime. Even with the barrage of plasma wreaking havoc on their shields, they were still more than a match for a single elite and his two little bird bodyguards.

Kat raised her mechanical arm and the orange glow of the omni-tool embedded within it suddenly formed. An electrical spark shot out and the elite's shields were suddenly fried. As the Covie tried to recover from the loss of his protection, Chief seized the moment and raked his torso with his assault rifle. Although taking several gunshot wounds, the elite still stood upright and only clutched his chest for a few scant microseconds before continuing to fire on the Spartans.

As blood dripped from the elite's wounds, the Spartans pulled back slightly towards the hilltop. As they did though, their immediate left came under attack. An elite in red pulled himself up over the edge of the structure's overlook. Kat wasted no time in igniting her plasma sword and lashing at the alien. The Covie dodged the first strike and struck her hard with a punishing blow to the top of her head. Were it not for her Spartan enhancements, her neck and skull would probably have been broken.

Chief turned, firing his assault rifle at point blank range. The elite was taken off guard, long enough for Kat to stab her sword upwards into his gut. Blue smoke pooled out of the alien's back where the sword's tip exited and the flesh crackled against the energy laden blade. Kat looked the elite in its defiant eyes before pulling the sword out and slashing the alien's head in two. As the Covie body toppled over the overlook's railing and back down to the ground below, Cortana couldn't help but make a comment.

"Huh, I guess you're right, Chief." She spoke in his ear. "Overkill is the best way to deal with elites."

The Master Chief said nothing in response, as he was distracted by more pressing matters. The first elite had regained his shields, thanks to his now deceased comrade's actions, and had ordered his jackals to charge. He was right behind them of course, he didn't want to miss out on a killing a Spartan, what kind of a warrior would he be then? Chief was hardly intimidated by the charge. It just meant they were closer to his gun now.

As his shields drained to half, Chief looked fired another burst from his rifle. The bullets scored a lucky hit, just barely edging over the side of the shield, cutting into the jackal's forehead. With him down, Chief turned to his friend, who had closed the distance. He kicked at the shield, knocking the jackal to the floor. Chief then than pulled out his pistol and fired a single shot into the jackal's head.

Now there was only one Covenant left. By now the elite had gotten close enough to deliver his own powerful kick to the Spartan II. Chief was hit back at least a good foot by the kick. The elite opened fire, killing what was left of his shields and hitting him a few good times. The Master Chief was undeterred by the attempt. He rolled to the side, out of the storm of plasma and fired off his assault rifle at the Covie. The bullets tore into the elite's shields, causing them to spike. As he raised his plasma rifle in an attempt to fire though, another far more powerful shot rang out. The elite's head suddenly jerked wildly as blood splattered out of the alien's skull. As the body fell to the ground, Chief turned to the hilltop and could see where the shot had come from, Garrus' sniper rifle.

"Sorry for stealing your kill." Garrus apologized over the radio. "I just figured you could use some help wrapping things up."

Chief wasn't about to argue, they needed to get back up to the hilltop. He ran back with Kat close to him towards the hill. Already another Covenant dropship had landed and taken off. As far as the Chief could tell, the elite Kat had sliced apart had probably been a part of its complement of reinforcements. Another ship was beginning its own landing and already the Covenant within were pouring out of it, heading straight for their position on the hill.

On their way up, Chief watched as Mordin froze three grunts in place with a cryo-blast. The icy explosion had literally stopped their advance on the hilltop cold. The salarian then shattered all three of them with relative ease. He used only one bullet for each of their head. For an alien who was highly dedicated to saving lives on the battlefield, he was deadly efficient in taking them. It was always nice to have a medic on the field willing to kill for his patients' safety.

Romeo had been delivered back to safety, his leg was still causing him trouble, but at least he was alive. Once inside the perimeter defences of the hilltop, Chief looked around once more to get a sense of the situation. Shepard was alongside his own men, directing them to disrupt the advancing Covenant in any way possible. Kasumi tossed out her flashbang grenades while Tali's drone took advantage of their sudden blindness, blasting them with more volts than electrical conduit. Shepard's biotics sent many a Covie tumbling back down the hill they had climbed up. As for Garrus, well, he had plenty of targets to shoot. Chief didn't envy any of them after seeing what happened to the elite.

Realising they could always use a little extra firepower. Chief directed Kat over to the Warthog. While she got into the driver's seat, Chief went to the back. He ordered the gunner out with a hand gesture and climbed up to the gun. Kat backed up towards the edge of the hill, prompting the others to get out of the way. With full view of the ground below, Chief let loose.

The giant Gatling gun always made one feel powerful when they fired it. Chief remembered when he first used one, probably one of the best feelings he had. He tried to hide some of the fun he had been having when he used it though. He didn't want to look too much like a kid in front of his superiors. This was saying something, considering he had only been twelve or so at the time.

The gun always was a bit unwieldy and shaky, but it got the job done. The bullet hose effortlessly cut down the advancing Covenant, not even the jackals were safe behind their shields, the bullets dislodging them from their defensive stance through sheer force alone. The elites survived longer, but not much. They tried to stay out of the line of fire, but the closer they got, the less Chief had to worry about range.

Before long they were Swiss cheese, plastered on the ground. Chief didn't stop firing until everything beyond the hilltop had stopped moving. There were dozens of bullet hole ridden bodies by the end of it. The machine gun fell silent, its spinning barrels coming to a slow stop as the weapon's cooling systems kicked in.

Moments later, Foe Hammer's Pelican appeared out of the clouds. It flew directly to the top of the hill, towards the cheers of the Marines atop it.

"Echo-419 to Cortana," she said as she brought the Pelican in close, "Foe Hammer's on station and ready for another pickup."

"Affirmative Foe Hammer, we're ready for dust off here." Cortana replied. "Me, the Chief and Shepard's team are going to check out the last lifeboat. When we're done there, come pick us up."

They were almost done here, but Chief knew this had been too easy with their high ground advantage. They weren't going to be so lucky next time. That and the time they were spending on this raised another concern.

"You hear anything about incoming Covenant reinforcements to the area yet?" Chief asked.

"Nothing substantial," Cortana answered succinctly, "but the word that there are Normandy crewmembers in this area has gotten around. They're not sending in more ground troops, still too thinly spread, but they are sending more air support to keep the area locked down."

Then they needed to hurry, if the skies got too thick with Covenant, even with Foe Hammer giving them a lift, getting out of here wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

To say this could be going easier would be an understatement. The Normandy could fly in and start bombing every filthy Covenant bastard on that ridge. Shepard could come charging out of nowhere and somehow make everything better with stupidly insufferable Boy Scout can-do attitude. They could have a fucking rocket launcher or something. But no! They didn't have any of that. Because life was not only unfair, it liked to take a dump on you before it took a piss.

At the moment, Jack found herself trapped behind a bit of cover on the roof of the tiny structure. She had come up here hoping to lay down some devastating biotic attacks on the ridge. Instead she found herself getting hit from both snipers and infantrymen who had advanced forward into the valley. They had the entire area covered. The only place that was safe was at the back of the structure or inside. No one dared trying to make a break for the life boat or something. The first guy who tried that got a plasma beam to the back of his head.

Jack had no intention of freaking out and dying a stupid death, not today or any day. So she stayed put and hoped that eventually the fuckers would run out of ammo. They of course did not, because the fanatic aliens had apparently packed extra ammunition, whereas they were running on what was left in the Pelican's ammo lockers they had quickly scavenged before abandoning the crash. In other words, things were pretty bad.

Jack looked out to see the people who were currently popping little craters into her bit of cover. They were batarians with a few jackals scattered about their ranks. They never seemed to let up their constant barrage, intending to keep everyone stuck behind cover for a good long while. There was little they could do to fix that, other than hope for an opening and take it for all it was worth. That was what Jack was currently doing, waiting for an opening to stick her head out and hit them with the biggest biotic throw or shockwave she could muster. Then while they were reeling from that, she'd really let them have it.

She soon got her chance, one of the dumbass batarians started to reload, the perfect moment for her to strike. She leaned out of cover long enough to send a biotic throw that hurtled across the battlefield and struck the batarian right in his ugly four eyed face. The bastard was sent flying backwards, along with a few others nearby as the biotic energy spread out from the initial contact point. The batarians fell back to the earth in crumpled heaps and Jack smiled a little as she pulled back into cover.

Still, she'd need to do bigger and better if she wanted to get out of here alive. Thankfully, she soon found that she wasn't the only one actively trying to accomplish something. Running up from below, their heads ducked down so as to avoid getting them shot off, were two Marines plus Thane. They slid into position at a nearby piece of cover. Thane already had his Sniper Rifle out.

"Jacob says we need to focus on removing their sniper support." The drell began pointing up to the ridge. "But we need a barrier if we're going to pull it off."

Jack grumbled at the suggestion.

"How effective do you really think that's going to be?" she asked. "Barriers aren't really designed for plasma you know? I may be able to slow them down a bit as they pass through, but it won't stop them outright like a regular bullet."

"We need to try," Thane insisted, "as long as they have this area zeroed we can't return fire effectively. You're the only biotic who can pull something like this off here, Jack."

Jack still thought it was a major waste of biotic energy, but if Thane thought it was the only way he was going to make the shot without the batarians blowing his head off, fine. He just better hope that one of the jackals that were with said batarians didn't put his crosshairs over his scaly head. Jack released a sigh and then formed a barrier around herself and began to move over to the sniper team. Some batarians took a few shots, the barrier held. One of the jackals made a try, it didn't work so much. The barrier slowed the bolt down but the energy still passed clean through. Jack was able to make it to Thane's position regardless and hunkered down. The drell and the Marines then aimed up at the ridge, the barrier still held against the gunfire as they lined up shots. Then, they fired.

* * *

Three of his snipers suddenly plopped dead on the ridge and Zek ducked slightly. They had managed to get off some good shots, damn them. Looking through his scope, he saw a large blue barrier covering part of the structure's roof. He saw the glint of something next and then quickly rolled to the side, a sniper's bullet just barely missing him.

"Damn we're pegged." He growled. He turned to his men. "Change positions, boys! This area is no longer good ground. Move to secondary, like we discussed."

His kig-yar quickly moved their efforts. This area wasn't suitable for sniping, but they could still provide support for Varvok if they got to the secondary position fast enough. They rushed through the trees and undergrowth, bounding through branches and over logs and rocks. Zek didn't bother to do anything fancy. He just wanted to get to a good spot. He had only added one other notch to his armour so far. He needed to catch more of these humans unawares.

By the time he got to the next position, his men were already in place. Some had taken up position on higher tree branches while others were behind the trees. A few more were lying prone on the ground. He preferred to stand a little ways back from the ridge, that way he'd still get good coverage but wouldn't be too exposed.

He aimed down at the structure. Now he had a clearer view of the snipers who had just taken out a few of his men. Well, he commended them for the marksmanship but he couldn't exactly just let that stand. He wondered if that barrier that was being held up would hold out against a well placed shot though. While he waited to see if it was worth the risk, he let the others pick their targets. They didn't shoot yet though. They were waiting for Zek to do so. While they waited though, Varvok was in a fix.

Through the barrier, Zek could see a bald human wearing rather lax armour over her torso. No helmet, although he doubted that would've helped her anyway if he chose to shoot her there. She was taking cover while the human snipers relocated for a better shot at the batarians. Not long after the bald human started tossing out some kind of energy from her palms. The energy was flung at the batarian lines, sending many flying backwards, some were pulled up in the air and one strange rippling attack cut through the lines themselves. So, this must've been that biotic stuff the batarians kept going on about, impressive.

But, he supposed, his men were down there too and Varvok wouldn't be pleased if he kept him waiting. So Zek decided to gamble. The biotic had retreated to cover, but he could still see the head of one of the human snipers, poking up from behind his little battlement. Zek brought the crosshairs over the head, breathed deep and squeezed. The shot zipped across the sky and plasma beam cut clean through the human's skull. It passed through the bubble shield, although it appeared to have gone slightly slower when it did. Perhaps they weren't made for plasma based weapons? Good, he could work with that.

"Open season!" he called out to his men and they began to fire.

In the meantime, Zek carved another notch on his armour. Still plenty of space, but he'd probably have to start considering getting one of those helmets to complement his eye piece if he wanted to continue the count soon.

As he put the knife away though, he heard a distressing sound, engines. He looked up to see some kind of shuttle craft, not one of the batarians to be sure. The door to it opened wide and Zek looked up with his rifle. He saw a rather upsetting image through the scope. That of a tall human clad in heavy armour armour and a rifle in hand... looking straight back at him.

"Well that ain't fair is it?" he asked no one.

He rolled away just as several shots traced after him. He ran to one of the tree trunks and looked back, only to watch as one of his men tried to aim up at the shuttle with his Type-50. For his trouble, a bullet whizzed right through the scope and embedded itself in his eye.

"Change positions!" he ordered.

* * *

Jun lowered his rifle and gave off a small chuckle of amusement.

"That makes four times now I've pulled that off." He said jovially, refering to his shooting of a bullet through the scope of a Plasma Beam Rifle. "Think I can make it five?"

"Save the theatrics, Jun." Linda ordered him. "We still got Marines to pull out of the fire."

She missed the first jackal, but she was able to catch another one as it fled. She fired a shot into the back of his neck and went down just short of the treeline. She didn't get the chance to gloat that much, unlike Jun. Seconds later, the shuttle began to take small arms fire from below. Her focus shifted to the batarians and the sparse detachment of jackals on the ground. She fired down at them, easily taking three of the aliens down with bullets straight to the top of their skulls. The Viper's power even managed to take off the head of one of the four eyed bastards. Still, this was no place to conduct a suitable sniping mission.

"Land us on the structure!" She ordered the pilot.

The shuttle descended and both she and Jun continued to fire on the batarian forces at the front. Eventually they got close enough to jump down onto the roof of the structure. Linda waved the shuttle off, too risky to let it hover above them like a giant target. Both she and Jun got into cover quickly as they met up with the defenders there. One was a scaly green alien with black eyes. The two others were a Marine and a bald woman who was holding up some kind of blue barrier from the looks of it. Her hands were held up high in the air and energy was emanating out from them. The first question that sprung to mind was obvious enough.

"Normandy crew I take it?" she asked them.

"Yes," the green alien replied graciously, "I am Thane, she is Jack"

"Fucking charmed," Jack spoke up in an annoyed grunt. "You gonna save our asses or something now?"

That was the plan, but it would probably be a hot zone if they tried with the shuttle. They needed bigger guns. Linda tried to reach Miranda, but all she heard was static.

"Damn, jamming signal is stronger now. I can't reach the Normandy." Linda grumbled. "We gotta hold out, just for awhile. The shuttle will get back to Miranda and she'll come pick us up."

"Oh well ain't that fucking perfect." Jack groaned. "Why is it everything has to be complicated?"

Linda couldn't really answer that. She was more concerned with the jackal snipers on the ridge. They'd be back, she'd have to counter them, and fast, otherwise this was going to get ugly again real soon.

* * *

The banshee screeched out of the sky, firing a furious stream of plasma at its targets. Its dive bombing run was cut unceremoniously short when Dutch's Spartan Laser discharged. The blast blew the aircraft to bits, its pieces rained down on earth, meeting the same fate as its wingman, which had fallen under the combined might of the Warthog's chain gun and the Hammerhead's missiles. Dutch gave the big weapon a pat on the side.

"Seriously, this thing is badass." He grinned. "I really hope someone got a recharger off the _Autumn_."

As Dutch stood in the middle of the debris field the Warthog pulled up alongside him with Buck in the passenger's seat.

"Just in case, try not fire anymore shots unless you have to." He advised. "Who knows what the Covenant are gonna have at the final lifeboat."

Dutch walked back to the Hammerhead, the doors opening wide to reveal Romeo sitting tight with his leg wound held together by bio-foam. They had been making good progress towards the lifeboat when the banshees attacked them in the open. It wasn't a hard fight, but it showed how little time they had left. Soon the skies would be swarming with those things and they didn't have nearly enough laser cannon shots for all of them.

Shepard had his own concerns.

"Cortana, have you managed to reach the Normandy yet?" he asked the AI.

"I have contacted Ms. Lawson." Cortana informed. "I gave her the information necessary to properly overcome the static signal, but she says it will take time to reconfigure the communication systems. Thankfully, your AI, EDI, is on it so it shouldn't take too long. Problem is our system is only one way until she can get the cloaking program installed. Otherwise, I'm communicating mostly through text-based systems rather than audio. It takes a long time to hear back from her, but I at least know she's working on it."

That was good to hear. Maybe if the Normandy's comms opened up they could use her to deal with the Covenant at the last lifeboat location. Sadly, with every bit of good news there always seemed to be something bad.

"Another update by the way," Cortana continued. "The Covenant have located the _Pillar of Autumn's_ crash site and secured it. The good news is the Captain is alive. The bad news is he and the entire surviving command crew has been captured."

"Since when do Covies take people alive?" Romeo asked.

"Captain Keyes isn't like the typical Marine they just mindlessly slaughter. They recognize him as a high ranking officer." Cortana explained. "My guess is they're holding him in order to extract further information."

Which meant the Covenant could get their strategic countermeasures, their equipment, troop numbers, almost everything they could've gotten if they had grabbed Cortana. Chief knew Keyes well enough to know he'd never give up those secrets, not to the Covenant. And once they figured that out for themselves they'd just kill him. They couldn't let that happen. But Cortana had even worse news.

"There's more though." She began grimly. "Commander Shepard, the Covenant mentioned they were transferring the Captain and the others to where they were holding another human prisoner, the pilot of the Normandy. I'm afraid Jeff "Joker" Moreau is in Covenant custody."

There was a brief silence over the radio at that and then a small audible growl of frustration. Chief could hear the Commander bang his fist against the Hammerhead's dashboard.

"Damn it, that's friggin perfect." He growled. "How soon can we launch a rescue mission?"

"Once we link up with the other survivors and formulate a plan. With any luck, by sundown we'll be ready." Cortana informed him.

"Then let's wrap this up." Shepard ordered. "Quickly."

The vehicles drove over to the lifeboat's beacon, but when they got there they found nothing. The lifeboat was crashed next to a small stream, the earth was ploughed beneath and weapons strewn about the ground. There weren't any signs of the Marines that had been inside.

"No life signs," Cortana announced with a quick scan, "but that doesn't make sense. There should be bodies."

Buck looked over the discarded weapons from his passenger's seat.

"Weapons lockers must've broken open on impact." He observed.

Chief already had a good idea as to why. Looking around, this wasn't exactly the best place to hold up. There were no structures, no rocks, no caves, nothing. Just wide open spaces and plenty of room for the Covenant to pick you off with a sniper or a single banshee pass.

"They must've abandoned the pod and looked for better ground, like me and Shepard when we crashed down." He suggested.

"They'd need to find some place secure where they could hold down the fort." Garrus added.

The Hammerhead suddenly drifted off, its nose pointed off in one direction towards a small incline between cliff edges.

"What about there?" Shepard asked. "Maybe that leads some place."

It was worth a shot. The team drove over and up the small incline to the top of the hill. Once there they beheld a large facility overlooking a cliff edge with a massive flaring generator structure pointing up to the side and two small box-like buildings on either end.

"Yep, looks like a nice little makeshift fort to me." Kasumi pronounced.

But on closer inspection, Chief saw how it wasn't so perfect. Up on top of the structure were two familiar shapes, elites, and patrolling the area below, hobbling along on all fours, grunts. The Covenant had overrun this place.

* * *

They should've overrun this place by now, but Zek was finding it more difficult to get his shots in. He soon realised where that heavy armoured human had come from, he had faced it on the human ship. It had been just as dangerous then, just as knowledgeable of marksmanship and he was losing this rematch so far. The humans had spread out along the structure, keeping the vast myriad of positions completely covered. Zek was changing sniping spots more than he cared for and it was costing Varvok men. It would seem being lazy and just sitting back was no longer an option. Zek decided to alter his little plan, just a bit.

It took awhile longer to get around the ridge to the other side, but he managed. He now had a clear view of the backside of the human's position and he had moved his snipers in closer now. There was a small clump of trees just to the north of their crashed lifeboat. He'd make this easy; he'd have a few more of his boys head down to the trees while he and the others suppressed the enemy from behind. Then upon reaching cover they'd force the humans to split their focus three ways. Varvok could then move in and he'd force the humans out of hiding. Then he could rack up some real kills.

The plan just hinged on one thing, getting that bald human's bubble barrier down. No easy task, but Zek had remembered how much he loved that missile launcher. Yes he could try and shoot her with his Type-50, but with that barrier up and slowing down his projectiles slightly; he did not want to take the chance.

He called over Retz and took the lightweight heavy weapon from him. He aimed square down at the human's bubble, using his eye scope as a means of getting on target. He looked to the very top of the barrier. The human had been keeping this up for awhile, it had to cause some strain. With any luck, a few powerful hits would break her concentration.

"Alright little hairless ape," he smirked, "let's see how you hold up against high yield explosives."

He pressed the trigger and launched one missile and then another and just one more for good measure. The projectiles hurtled through space, straight towards the top of the barrier. They struck the bubble with tremendous force, rocking the entire little structure and then the bubble went off.

* * *

Jack fell to the ground, her mind racing with pain. She growled in anger, getting to her knees. She could hear a terrible constant ringing in her ears. That explosion had taken her off guard. As if holding it up indefinitely wasn't bad enough, having to take three blasts like that simultaneously had completely screwed her up. Thane rushed over to help her up. She pushed him away, electing to stand on her own.

As the ringing stopped she realised how bad it had gotten, the barrier was down and every sniper on the roof was exposed. They huddled behind cover as plasma beams shot out at them from behind where they had been shooting from. Even that big powerful Spartan chick had been given pause as she huddled beside Jun.

"What's you next plan?" she asked her with a cold glare.

The Spartan didn't answer right away. Instead she bolted from cover and fired three shots in quick succession from her rifle as she moved to another battlement.

"Jun, keep an eye on those trees next to the lifeboat." She warned. "They're going to try and give us more shit than we can deal with. We're already split between two bad guy positions, we don't need a third."

It was at this point that Jack had had enough of this shit. She had been ordered around all day. She had to endure getting shot down and then stuck in this shit hole little death box. Then she got used as a shield generator and now this bitch was annoying her. Well, she thought, fuck it. If the snipers are all the way over at the back of the outpost now, that meant the front was clear of them! Which meant it was time to do what she did best. Get mad and break skulls.

She bolted from her spot making a move for the batarian position. She thought she heard Thane calling out to her, telling her to stop or wait. She didn't listen, of course, because at this point she didn't care. She could break this siege all on her own so long as they kept those stupid snipers busy. She dropped down right in the path of the advancing batarians and jackals. She didn't know what they were doing suddenly rushing the base now, but she didn't care. Everyone right in front of her was about to die, period.

"I will fucking destroy you!" She shouted loudly at them.

Running on adrenaline now, Jack let loose a terrible biotic throw that shoved everyone directly in front of her back at least five yards. She then ran forward, striking out with a tremendous biotic punch that threw one jackal clean back into a rock. She let loose a shockwave that tore into their ranks, forcing the batarians and jackals to fall back. Her little escapade did not go unnoticed as the Marine and Army personnel inside rushed out to give her covering fire. So long as they didn't get in her way, fine. She was in her element now, the full range of all her abilities, now at her disposal and there was nothing anyone could do to restrain her.

* * *

Zek watched in horror as only a handful of his people made it to the tree cluster, gunned down by the newcomer humans and their sniper rifles. Their bodies smacked back into the sloping hillside and slid all the way down to the ground. They had anticipated his movements, damn. Well no matter, the stupid bald human had done Varvok's job for him.

The marines were coming out of hiding, confident that the snipers had been dealt with and they could engage openly. Zek knew better, of course. His people could get back into position within minutes and turn the tide back in their favour with relative ease. They could keep this up as long as they wanted. No one was coming to save these humans.

That was when he heard a rumbling. He turned to the woods, as did his men. Bounding out of the underbrush and trees were dozens of strange armless creatures with no eyes and giant gnashing teeth. They snapped at the kig-yar, forcing them back either off the ridge or along the treeline to get away. Zek watched as one of the beasts rushed him and he drew his plasma pistol quickly. He fired a rapid blast of bolts into the beast, killing it instantly, but it was a short lived victory. The next sound he heard were guns, human guns.

Following the beasts were muzzle flashes of the human projectile weapons, as well as what looked to be one giant massive reptilian creature, charging towards his people. He smashed his forehead into one, tossing him aside like a child's toy.

"Oh well this is just cheap, underhanded and sneaky." He complained as he watched the scene with a grimace. Then he suddenly smiled. "Kinda wish I thought of it."

With that, Zek took off, the beasts following him and his men wherever they scattered to. Out of the corner of his eye he watched as two of his people were picked up right off the ground and pulled into what looked like a small black hole out of nowhere. This was followed by another ball of energy that collided into the singularity and caused to explode, killing his men. Zek traced the ball back to its point of origin, a tall blue-skinned creature with glowing blue eyes and the same powers as the bald human. The alien stared at him once and he got a bit of chill for some reason.

"And this whole venture just went south quick." He grumbled to himself.

The blue alien launched something towards him. Not wanting to figure out what this ball of energy would do, he jumped off the side of the ridge and began to roll down. He grasped onto the side of the incline with his talons and pulled himself over to a tree that stuck out of the incline. He had a good overview of the battle from here, as much as good as that did now.

* * *

Samara lowered her arm. There was no point in chasing after the jackal as there were more wicked ones to slay than just him. She looked around at the scene before her, the wild blind creatures had been only a few at the start but their pack was large and nearby. Before long they had found most of their former chasers and had herded them in the direction of the battle at hand. It hadn't been easy, firing off guns to keep them running and scared. They eventually didn't have to do it anymore, because the blind beasts soon smelled the flesh of the jackals and leapt at the chance to close in on another potential meal. They had now scattered the snipers and the creatures were spilling over into the fight below.

Samara just hoped the creatures would focus on the enemy and not the people they intended to save. Still, the majority of the pack seemed interested only in the jackals for the moment. Also, they were largely trying to avoid the shootout at the front of the small structure below. She could only assume, and hope, the others were down there.

Before long, Kowalski caught up to her, slightly out of breath.

"I can't believe that this actually worked." He said amazed.

"It certainly provided the necessary shock value." Samara complimented. "Now we best make our way to a better position on the ridge to assist the Marines below."

Kowalski nodded once and they were about to leave when they heard something. There was one jackal running through the woods, firing back at the Marines and one rampaging krogan that seemed to keep dogging him and his little group. On this Jackal's back was some kind of strange radio like device and unlike most of the jackals up here, he did not appear to have a beam rifle. Grunt then got distracted with another jackal who had tried firing his weapon at point blank range, only to somehow spectacular miss the lumbering behemoth. This gave the jackal with the pack time to slip away as the krogan began to pummel the other jackal with the terrible marksmanship to death.

"He looks like he's got important equipment." Kowalski noted to Samara.

"Probably best that he not escape with it." Samara suggested.

With that, the Private levelled his Pistol at the alien as he ran and fired two straight into his back. The bullets penetrated the device, destroying it and killing the jackal.

* * *

Linda's channel suddenly became clear, the static dissipating. For some reason, she couldn't figure out why, the comms were clear. Her connection to the Normandy was instantly established and Miranda's voice entered her helmet as the static vanished.

"-Five-Eight, do you read? Can you hear me? The static just seems to be gone. Can you hear me?"

"Yes, our channel just cleared up too." Linda replied. "I don't know how, but it doesn't matter. We're in a bad way, Lawson. We need immediate evac. Zone is hot."

"Copy that, I found some of our people by a structure, UNSC and some of my crew. They boosted the signal on their lifeboat so I could locate them." Miranda explained. "We're still loading them up and their equipment, but we should be at your position in just a few short minutes."

A plasma bolt struck her battlement and Linda pointed her rifle towards where the shot had come from. She didn't even look down the scope. She just found the target and fired, killing a jackal with ease.

"Make it fast, Lawson." Linda requested. "We won't be able to hold out much longer."

* * *

It was a bit of a surprise to see Jacob among the fight. Jack knew he wasn't a pushover, but it was just a little weird to see him actually doing shit after being so cautious. Discretion didn't translate to lack of skill though as he proved. He may not have been an expert biotic, but when Jack saw him pull one of the batarians clear off the ground to fire a point blank blast into his stomach as he floated over him, she admitted she was impressed.

The former Corsair was at the forefront of the fight. Although from the looks he kept giving her he probably would've preferred continuing to fight from inside. Well what did she care? It wasn't like she asked for the Marines to start following her. Besides, they were winning anyway. The batarians were falling back along with the jackals. Between her and the Marines, this was a cakewalk.

At the moment, Jacob was directing the Marines and Army troopers among them to spread out and cover a wider range. There were still far more bad guys to deal with than they had people. Luckily, most of the cover was in their favour. The only people who stood a chance were those with their own personal multi-coloured riot shields and they weren't that successful. Jacob was easily able to gun down one jackal as it tried to advance with its shield held upright. With a DMR in hand, Jacob was able to precisely shoot the jackal in his firing arm through the side of the shield. They really had to get passed that design flaw somehow, Jack thought.

Jack also lent her shockwaves to the defence, forcing the batarians and jackals to remain shacked up in their little holes. They fell back to a patch of rocks just outside their range. That was worrisome for sure. They'd probably regroup and eventually storm their lines again given the chance, or at least according to Jacob.

"Thane, reposition yourself at the front of the battlements." He ordered over the radio. "We can't give them the chance to get up to the ridge."

"There are still a few jackals using the tree cluster for cover." Thane warned. "Linda thinks we should cover our flank until the Normandy arrives."

Whatever, as far as Jack was concerned they were in the clear with the Normandy apparently on its way. Nevertheless, their good fortune held out. Gunfire erupted from the ridge above, human gunfire, not more plasma beams. Something was firing on the rocks the batarians and jackals had retreated to, pinning them down for once. The answer as to who was the cause came over the radio soon after.

"Jacob, its Samara. Are you alright?"

"More or less," Jacob replied, "glad you could make it. Normandy is on its way to our position. All we have to do is hold out a little longer."

Samara explained what they had done to deal with the snipers from before. With the batarians pinned down and their sniper cover dealt with, that made waiting for the Normandy to arrive a lot easier to manage. It did feel a bit weird getting help from Samara, but perhaps being surrounded by innocent Marines was enough. Of course that didn't mean they were completely safe. Only a minute after Jacob and Samara finished up their conversation, a plasma beam cut down one of the Army troopers, the blast going through his neck. Everyone ducked and tried to find out where the shot had come from.

"Just our luck that some of the snipers survived." Jacob growled. "Thane, can you and Linda find him?"

"We'll have to wait till he shoots again to be sure." The drell replied. "Stay down, we'll find him, we have time."

They probably wouldn't even need to. Once the Normandy got into position they could just strafe the ridge with cannon fire until they were away. Jack was only disappointed in the fact that she had finally been able to let loose and in the end she was going to back into a stuffy ship. Samara's group on the ridge kept their eye out for anymore snipers and their fire on the batarians below. Nothing much to do for the moment excepct make sure no one came out of those rocks.

Everything had gone from complete shit to going just the way they wanted it. That streak seemed to continue when Miranda came over the comms again.

"Normandy on approach ground team." She spoke. "Mark your positions, we're going to give you cover while we send the shuttles down."

* * *

Zek saw the human ship just descend down from the sky, flying from the same direction those blind walking mouths and the humans had come from. The infamous Normandy that was on every Covenant Shipmaster's hit list, crewed with the worst, most loathsome heretics to defy their faith. Honestly, he wasn't surprised to find out the ship was smaller. The hierarchs made it sound like some terrible warship. This was only the second time he had seen it and it still didn't match the hype of some horrifying beacon of death. He was sure it was dangerous though, it was just he expected like spikes and it to be all black or something.

Almost as if on cue, Varvok had to chime in.

"Zek! This has all gone to hell!" he screamed aloud. "Where are your snipers? We need to kill as many of these two eyed bastards as we can before they get on the shuttles! And get these damn reinforcements off us!"

Zek was unmoved by the panicking outburst. Perhaps it was only natural. He should've shared his backup plan with Varvok, well better late than never.

"Not to worry, Commander." He assured the batarian. "The Normandy's arrival is surprising, but not unplanned for. I've had something waiting in the wings."

Zek changed the comms channel and contacted his final little counter-measure. By now the Normandy had flow directly over the structure and turned slightly to port, its nose pointing at the cliff. It was ill prepared for Zek's surprise. Coming out of the clouds from the left, was another ship, Zek's ship. It passed over the batarians' position and then fired at the Normandy.

* * *

The Normandy took a direct hit to one of its thrusters as it hovered in place. Everyone below it ducked down and ran inside the structure as the ship lurched in space. Miranda came over the comms next. Jack could just see her gritting through her teeth in frustration as she spoke. It was one of the rare times they shared the same emotional state.

"Damn them! EDI, how come we didn't detect them?" Miranda demanded.

"The enemy vessel must have advanced cloaking technology. I was unable to bring it up on the scanners until it revealed itself." The AI frantically explained.

The Covenant ship fired again, this time grazing the top of the Normandy. There was little room the move and they were in no position to fire back this close to their own people. The Normandy began to veer off.

"We're a sitting duck like this!" Miranda shouted. "Everyone! Fall back to the woods behind the structure! We'll regroup evac efforts there!"

"We're already moving." Samara assured. "We're far too close to the ship as it is from this angle."

Samara's group finally stopped shooting which meant the batarians had free reign once more. They and the jackals with them charged out of cover, firing at the humans that were left. Before long everyone was retreating to the woods, running through the structure itself to get there. Jack growled in anger and unleashed a terrible biotic blast at the enemy as they rushed their position. She managed knock away two batarians with one blow. She was not about to get killed in this shit hole and started her run back to the woods.

* * *

The humans were in retreat, even the always so bold bald one. It was good idea to keep the ship close by and cloaked, just in case things got out of hand. Were he an elite he probably would've called down the thunder from the start, but he was never one for overkill. It was such a waste of energy in his opinion. Even though it was unlikely they'd capture or kill them all now, at least he had kept Varvok's people from suffering more casualties. He wanted one more notch on his armour though and while his scattered men would be unable to prevent the humans from escaping into the woods, he could at least take down one.

He had a good idea which. The bald human was taking her time retreating, using every moment she had to fling an attack back at the batarians and his fellow kig-yar. Zek noticed through the scope how she limped to one side ever so slightly. An injury of some sorts no doubt. However so insignificant it was currently, it made her slow enough to be adequate prey. He'd never get another chance to take her down otherwise, she was too powerful. Maybe the Supreme Commander would appreciate the kill even. Normandy Crewmembers were high on the list of valued targets. But as Zek lined up the shot, Varvok interrupted his concentration.

"Zek, the humans are fleeing to the woods." He began "Do you see the bald woman with the biotics in the crowd?"

Oh, the human was a female then? He could never tell the difference between the genders of the human species to be fully honest. Irrelevant now, he just needed Varvok off the air long enough for him to make a kill.

"Yeah, relax she won't be using her weird powers on you soon enough." He assured.

"No Zek, you don't understand." Varvok quickly interjected. "I don't want her dead. Just disable so my people can capture her."

To say Zek was confused by the request was an understatement. Capture? He wanted to capture another human now? Really? Why? What was in it for him? Killing the human would net him some praise from Thel and his stupid Prophet shadow. The Supreme Commander would be pissed off beyond belief if he opted to just wound and capture the human. He'd be cheating himself out of the extra funds for services rendered.

But on the other hand... he'd piss off the grand asshole sangheili in charge and Varvok would probably take most of the heat for ordering him to only wound the enemy.

Really, what was the downside there?

"Alright, Crinkle Head," Zek grinned cheekily, "whatever you say."

He knew just where to shoot anyway, that leg was just about to give out after all. He pointed down and waited for the bald woman to stop. Then he fired, the beam easily sliced clean through her leg. It didn't take it off of course, but it no doubt hurt like hell as the human fell down clutching her thigh.

* * *

Jack roared in pain as the searing plasma burn cut deep. Why did the Covenant keep shooting her legs with their damn plasma? Were they just drawn to shooting at them? Honestly. She looked to the others who were still fleeing. She hadn't been keeping up all that well, admittedly, so they were further ahead. Jacob and Thane must've noticed her cries because she thought she saw them turn back. They weren't hard to spot. Thane was the only green person down here. They started making their way back for her and she tried to drag herself towards them.

That proved to be a bit more difficult when the batarians caught up. They poured out of the back of the structure and around it, firing on Jacob and Thane as they tried to get to her. As an added bonus to this sucky situation, a group of jackals had overtaken the structure and had lined themselves up along the battlements on the roof. They fired on the retreating humans and on Jacob and Thane's rescue attempt. Jack tried offer assistance, but it was hard to concentrate on attacking anything when you had searing pain in one leg.

Jack clambered to her knees and tried to walk on her leg, but it was useless. She collapsed back down, stomach first this time. She rolled over to see one of the batarians staring down on her with his four eyes. She let loose a biotic punch that sent him hurtling into the sky, but there were more around her. They kept their distance as Jack unleashed barriers in a nova wave. Their caution proved futile as they were thrown about. Jack wobbled to her feet and tried to hobble after the others. No sense in fighting like this, she was in no shape. And then someone shot her other leg. She fell down and turned to see a batarian and a few of his friends, one armed with an omni-tool.

"Disable her biotics! Now!"

Before she could try anything the one with the omni-tool set off a dampening attack. She clutched her head as her implant twitched. The batarians wasted no time in running over to her. The one who had issued the order to dampen her then slammed his foot down on her eyes.

Everything went black.

* * *

Thane tried to fire on the jackals that were blocking their access to Jack, but their shields wouldn't budge. The batarians were advancing and the Covenant corvette just kept getting closer. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the batarians dragging an unconscious Jack away.

His gaze was distracted when the sniper who had shot Jack fired again. Thane rolled to the side, the beam missed him. He then aimed upward and shot at the sniper, but he ducked into the cover of the tree trunk he was clinging to.

With the batarians advancing and Jack out of their reach, they had little choice but to fall back with the others. Jacob looked despondent and defeated at the mere notion. They scrambled up the incline with the others, furiously trying to avoid plasma and gunfire from below. Samara was waiting for them up top, pulling them both up.

"Is that everyone?" Samara asked them.

"No," Jacob relented. "Jack... they got Jack."

Another plasma beam cut at one of the trees as Jacob tried to explain. They couldn't stay here.

"We need to get to the shuttles," Samara said, "I've informed Miranda of a small clearing she can set them down in just a few yards away from us, come on!"

They ran into the woods, the Covenant corvette clear in the sky above them. All in all, a terrible end to a terrible day for everyone, at least six or so Marines and Troopers dead and one crewmate captured. But Thane knew once Shepard found about Jack's predicament, the Covenant would not go unpunished for their transgressions.

* * *

Romeo may have had a bad leg, but that didn't affect his sniping abilities. All he needed to do was make sure they had fewer problems to deal with. He took aim at one of the elites on structure's overlook while Garrus, who was right beside him took aim at the other.

"You sighted?" he asked the turian.

"Sighted," he replied, "fire on my mark."

Romeo never had many opportunities to pull synchronized shots, let alone with an alien. To say the least his day had gotten just a bit better now. He waited for Garrus to give the go with rapt anticipation.

"Mark!"

The two fired their guns at exactly the same time and both elites took a clean shot to the head. They collapsed onto the ground below, right in front of a group of grunts. As the little gas breathers screamed aloud, Garrus contacted Shepard.

"Move in!" he shouted.

The Hammerhead gunned it for the opening, speeding clean over right past Garrus and Romeo. The Warthog followed after it. Both launched off the slope and came down on the earth hard. Dutch had the machine gun while Buck sprayed his submachine gun at the Covenant in front of them. The little gas suckers scattered, but their little legs were hardly able to outrun the onslaught of bullets. A few made a dash for the ramp that led up into the structure. Some made it, not everyone did.

Rounding the corner of the structure near the cliff edge were three jackals, their shields over their heads as they rushed into battle. The Hammerhead's turret made short work of them, blasting them clean off the side of the cliff as they made their dash towards the box-like structure. This part of the area was now under their control.

Everyone more or less piled out of the Hammerhead. Shepard was first out, despite being the driver. He was done wasting time, he wanted to get his people out of here immediately. Shepard shared the sentiment and was quick to jump out of the Hog as well and join the huddle.

"Let's search the area." Shepard ordered. "Dutch and Buck, I want you to get up on top of that flare generator structure and kill any remaining Covenant you find."

"On it, Commander." Buck nodded, taking off for the structure with Dutch.

"Kat," Shepard continued, "you take the warthog and pick up Garrus and Romeo. Head to the second box-structure and clear it."

"We'll leave nothing left." Kat replied rushing to the Hog and taking up the wheel.

"Everyone else is with me." The Commander finished. "We got this section we've just cleared."

Everyone followed after Shepard as he moved on the box-like structure. They were careful, but quick. Shepard was on point, leaning out of the corner of building as he pressed himself into it. He bolted out of cover and the rest followed. Before them, right in front of a doorway leading inside, was a dead body of a Marine. Too late save him, but that didn't mean the others were gone.

Cortana quickly scanned the entrance to the structure as Chief's gaze turned to it.

"It seems this leads down under the main structure itself." Cortana explained. "The Marines must've taken refuge inside."

"Then let's move. They probably don't have much time left." Shepard ordered.

Everyone moved in, keeping in tight formation as they descended the twisting ramp into the underground cavern. As they moved downwards, they could hear plasma and gunfire up ahead. The Marines were still alive, still fighting. They reached a large archway and saw a trio of grunts with their backs turned to them. They were firing on something past a large pillar that was centered in the middle of some kind of chasm spanned by two see-through bridges.

Shepard ordered Kasumi to throw a flashbang in and she obeyed dutifully. The resulting blinding blast stopped the plasma fire as the grunts clutched their eyes in pain. Shepard then let loose a shockwave that sent one grunt flying. Everyone stormed the room after that. Tali turned right, catching a grunt in a corner of the room off guard. One shotgun blast and the grunt was smacked against the back wall with a bloody thump. Mordin set off an incineration blast that caught one of the grunts on fire. Chief turned the corner finding another grunt hiding there and finished him with a single pistol shot to the head. He then turned up ahead and fired another three shots into the last grunt. He took every hit and was forced right off the edge into the chasm below.

The whole thing was quick and clean and the team ran across the bridge to meet up with the surviving Marines. They were more than glad to see them all.

"I've already called for an evac." Cortana informed them all. "The Normandy is on its ways as well."

"Music to my ears!" Said one of the Marines, he turned to his men. "Assemble for evac, boys! We're getting out of this dump!"

Chief and Shepard took point again, finding a ramp that led upwards. It didn't take much to figure out that this would lead them to the second box-like structure. There would no doubt be more Covenant up there, possibly being distracted by Kat in the Warthog.

"I should head up first." Chief suggested. "I can clear out remaining resistance fast and you can keep the Marines covered."

"Sounds good," Shepard agreed, "lead the way."

Chief ran up the ramp, it didn't take long for a grunt to get in his way. He pointed his plasma pistol directly at him, only for the Spartan to smack him once across the face and then put a bullet into the back of his head when the hit spun him around. Another grunt, halfway up the next ramp, started running back and away from the Spartan, firing as he went. It was a futile retreat. Switching to his assault rifle as he ran up the ramp he gunned down the grunt with relative ease.

Chief eventually made it out into daylight once more. He could hear the sound of the Warthog's machinegun chattering away as the Covenant tried to counterattack. Chief could hear a plasma rifle up above. Sure he enough he rounded the corner to find a ramp leading ups to the roof of the structure. Up there, was an elite firing at the Warthog as it raced around the area.

Chief slowly made his way up and was about strike the elite from behind. But just as he was about to, the Elite turned, roared in his face and tried to deliver a punch of his own. Chief took the hit hard, his head twisting away from the alien, but he delivered back a punch that slammed the elite into one of the spires that covered the corners of the structure. The Covie was hit so hard he dropped his plasma rifle. The elite roared again and charged. Chief dodged the attack and fired a full magazine of clips into the elites' back. He cut through the shields and then plugged a few more rounds into the alien's back. The elite still didn't fall, but bent over gasping for air. Chief ended the fight with a swift rifle butt hit to the back of the Covie's head.

He dropped down from the top of the structure and walked out into the open. The Warthog sped around the corner stopping just in front of him. Shepard and the others soon followed out of the structure proper with the Marines.

"Clear here." Kat told them all. "Just ran over the last jackal on that final pass."

"Clear high!" Buck spoke up over the radio. "I think we got them all. Last gas sucker will suck no more."

"Then let's pack this in." Cortana told everyone, Foe Hammer should be along any minute.

* * *

The Pelican arrived a few seconds later, as did the Normandy. They both hovered at the cliff edge, their back doors opened wide. Even as they loaded the Warthog and Hammerhead up into the Normandy while the Marines took their seats in the Pelican, however, the significance of their victory was undercut but what Miranda told everyone upon her arrival.

Legion, Zaeed, Samara, Grunt, Thane and Jacob were all safely aboard. Jack was not. Two crewmates were captured and they couldn't help but feel like despite all their success they had still failed. Shepard had called a small huddle near the Pelican while the final preparations for lift off were made. He did not look happy.

"How the hell did this happen?" he asked with a grimace. "Two of our people just taken, right from under us, it's like the Collectors all over again."

"It's not your fault, Shep." Kasumi assured him. "We can't be everywhere at once."

"Besides," Tali added, "we saved our people back then. We can do it again now."

Easier said than done, Chief thought. Thankfully, they had an ace up their sleeve, namely a little AI that was listening in on everything the Covenant said.

"Cortana," Chief began to ask, "any idea where they're keeping the Commander crewmates and the Captain?"

"I just might, give me a second..."

Cortana paused for a moment, and came back with jubilant tone of success.

"That's it! I've located where they're keeping the Captain and Joker at least." She told them all. "They're being held on the _Truth and Reconciliation_. A cruiser I disable before we abandoned the _Autumn_. It touched down on a desert plateau roughly three hundred kilometres up-spin. Chances are that's where they're taking Jack as we speak."

"Then we need to link up with the survivors and start working on a rescue plan." Shepard concurred. "Good job, Cortana, thanks for your help. I need to see my ship, but we'll meet back up at the FOB."

Shepard stretched out his hand to the Master Chief who shook it slightly.

"Thanks for helping me round up my people." Shepard told him.

"Thank me when we get them all back." Chief replied.

Shepard just nodded and his group parted ways from the Spartan II back to the Normandy. Chief walked back to Pelican which was loading up the last of the Marines.

"So, I think that was a successful first outing with the Commander." Cortana noted to her Spartan companion. "Thoughts?"

Chief had little to say but the obvious at that point.

"He's smart, tactical, cares for his people and knows how to use those powers of his efficiently." Chief answered simply. "Only thing that confuses me is why he's still the rank of a Commander. He should be a Captain with his skills."

"That and he has his very own ship." Cortana added. "Maybe command structures and promotions are different in his universe."

Chief stepped aboard the lip of the Pelican and was greeted by Foe Hammer as they began to take off.

"Welcome aboard, Master Chief." She greeted. "Ready for dust-off."

The Pelican lifted from the ground and into the sky, accompanying the Normandy on its wing.

"We should move out of this airspace as soon as possible, Lieutenant." Cortana informed Foe Hammer. "And then we're going to need your help on a rescue mission."

Foe Hammer responded with a chuckle.

"No rest for the wicked, huh?" she asked.

"You know what they say," Cortana replied, "you can sleep when you're dead."

* * *

AN: Ugh, writing this chapter, both this part and the last part, ended up taking longer than planned, more info in my expanded notes on my profile for why. It was really difficult resolving all these little sub-plots for this mission. From now on I'm going to try and limit those if I can.

So, Jack is captured along with Joker. That's a pickle. I decided I wanted to Jack to be caught for a number of reasons. One, I need it to push something I'm working on along and I just like the idea of sticking one of the physically strongest Normandy crewmates together with one of the weakest. Rest assured she won't be a damsel. Jack would probably come right out of the text on the screen and strangle me if I did that, but she will be stuck in a cell for awhile.

I know you're probably all eager to find out how both Jack and Joker get out of this, but with the introduction to Installation 04 dealt with, it's time we check up on Liara and what she's doing. Next chapter we officially start the B-Plot to this instalment of "The Wormhole Chronicles" by going back to the ME Universe. Where we'll be introduced to a certain character you've probably been waiting on since Liara said she was headed to Tuchanka. See you then!


	8. Nostalgia Trip

Chapter 7: Nostalgia Trip

**July, 28****th****, 2185**

The Krogan DMZ was no place for the faint of heart. For one thing, most of the planets were inhospitable, uninhabitable or nuclear wastelands. The natives were vicious, brutal, hated aliens and had very short fuses. Topping it all off though was the CDEM, the Council Demilitarization Enforcement Mission. It was their job to police the area and keep the krogan below on Tuchanka from getting their hands on ship-mounted weapons. They weren't an occupation force, not officially anyway. They stayed up in orbit, operating from battle stations. They rarely went down planet-side and when they did it was for purely Council matters concerned with Citadel Space Security. Naturally, most of the people in the CDEM were from the main Council Races. They mostly consisted of turians, for obvious reasons. They were the ones that had checked the Krogan Rebellion in the first place.

Getting by the CDEM wasn't that much trouble, not for the Shadow Broker at least. Liara had the proper authorization codes to permit safe passage. She needed them. She didn't have the luxury of a stealth ship like the Normandy. She had brought along a Shadow Net Frigate, which she had renamed the _Lucen_ after her takeover, loaded up with a platoon worth of Shadow Broker Mercs. For the moment she only needed a squad of them, but it didn't hurt to be prepared. Something told her she wasn't going to be back on the Shadow Broker's Ship for a long time. She'd need the reserves and the numbers.

Now she was taking a shuttle down to the surface of Tuchanka with five mercs accompanying her. Plus one nervous looking alien named Kayap. The unggoy, the name of his species as he admitted, was cuffed with a merc watching over him. A bit excessive perhaps, but Liara didn't want to take any chances. He was still a prisoner even if he did seem far too afraid to try anything. The asari did her best to ignore his muffled whimpering as they descended through the atmosphere and past the CDEM border patrols.

"You're on your own now," the turian communications officer that waved them through said. "Enjoy your stay on Tuchanka, if that's even possible."

After getting past the massive layer of dust and clouds that surrounded the planet, they could finally behold the scarred landscape below. Tuchanka, home planet of the krogan, one of the most feared species in the entire galaxy. When most looked upon its devastated ruins and barren irradiated deserts they tended to just write it off as typical of a place that gave birth to a race as savage and bestial as the krogan. But Liara, being an archaeologist, just couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness.

She could see the remnants of a once great civilization and nuclear rubble. Grand skyscrapers now lay on their sides toppled, tremendous cityscapes covered in dust, old highways stretching for miles. At one point in time this place was once teeming with life, commerce and technology. Now it was just a crater, destroyed by nuclear fire brought on by a lust for challenge and war.

It was such a waste. The krogan had so much potential as a species, and yet this was what they were reduced to. It was little wonder why the krogan tried to expand after the salarians uplifted them. They needed to find some place better to live. And because of their aggressive expansionism that left so many dead in their wake, they had another apocalypse forced on them, a slower more drawn out one that came in the form of a fertility disease called the Genophage. A disease developed by salarians, deployed by turians and approved by asari. Was it any wonder they hated the Council?

Thankfully, not all krogan were the same and not all of them were so quick to embrace violence as the only solution. Liara knew someone here who would at least listen to her and perhaps even help her. Especially if he heard there were potentially hostile alien forces operating on his planet, if he didn't know already. Either way, she doubted he'd turn her away. Not once she told him how this business with these new aliens had something to do with Shepard's disappearance.

Suffice to say, Liara wasn't all that nervous about coming face to face with a krogan. Not all her men shared the same sentiment. One tapped her on the shoulder as they got close to the ground.

"Hey Doc, any tips on how not to piss the local humpbacked reptiles off?" He asked.

The mercenary was a human and, from the sound of it, young. He probably hadn't been out of Alliance space before now. She had to wonder why he decided to go into this business. That was the price you paid when you wanted to get people who weren't lowlifes, you ended up recruiting inexperienced new bloods now and again. Luckily, there was one turian with her on this shuttle and two ex-Alliance Marines, along with three more mercenary veterans. That would even things up, and hopefully keep this fresh-faced gun for hire alive.

"Stand your ground, don't stare and let me do all the talking," Liara informed him. "You'll be fine, so long as you don't look like you're trying to intimidate them."

"Who could intimidate a krogan?" the newbie asked.

"No one," Liara replied, "I said 'trying to intimidate,' I said nothing about succeeding in doing so."

The shuttle soon lowered itself towards an opening in the ground. The entrance to the krogan camp was in fact a former a missile silo now appropriated by the resident clan. Where the nuke and the operators who had no doubt fired it had once resided, now thrived an entire community. It spoke volumes of the krogan race's ability to survive despite the odds. If there was one thing to admire about them it was their tenacity.

The shuttle touched down on what had once been the launching pad for the missile. As the shuttle doors opened, they saw a packed little entrance way with some guards standing by the stairs leading off the pad. Liara's mercs all looked to their extra passenger before they left. Kayap's eyes were shifting between them all, his little whimpers all the more apparent.

"You sure we should bring him?" The turian asked Liara. "Krogan ain't gonna like the aliens they know about walking around here. Who knows what they'll do to him."

"We need him," Liara reiterated once more, as he she had explained over and over again on their way here. "I already have a cover story. Remember, I do the talking."

With that, Liara stepped off the shuttle, her entourage in tow. The krogan guards met her halfway towards the stairs, stopping her and her mercs cold. They didn't have to raise their hands to halt her, between the two of them they were practically a walking brick wall.

"State your business here, asari," one of them demanded.

"I made a request for an audience with the Clan Leader over a day ago," she stated confidently. "He is expecting me."

The guard looked unconvinced at first.

"Why would the Clan Leader want to see an alien?" He asked. "And an asari of all aliens to boot."

The krogan was giving her a suspicious look. She could tell what it was about. Asari had never done anything to the krogan directly, but they weren't exactly helping their situation either. It was quite common for many krogan to seek out asari lovers. It was the only way they could have children, even if they weren't krogan. And when your race was slowly dying out from dwindling fertility rates it wasn't any surprise that, to a lot of krogan, asari were taboo. She was quick to deflate the concerns.

"This is a personal matter to be sure, but it is not that personal I assure you," she explained. "However, as an old friend of his, I don't think the Clan Leader will appreciate you holding me up so long. If you still don't believe me, go ahead and check with him. Don't be surprised when pulls out your teeth for it though."

She couldn't help but smirk a bit as the krogan backed down from her, his suspicious gaze gone. His friend, however, had seen Kayap and the obvious questions followed.

"The hell is that?" he asked

All eyes turned to Kayap, his little knees shaking and his cuffed arms placed firmly on the floor, as a room full of people twice his size kept giving him unpleasant looks. He didn't have to worry though, Liara already had a plan. Not many krogan within Clan Urdnot had left Tuchanka after all, and they knew very little of the galaxy outside.

"That's a baby elcor," she lied with a completely straight face.

The krogan looked at each other a bit bewildered before looking back to Kayap.

"What's all that stuff on him?" One asked.

"Oh, it's a special suit. They need it to adjust to off-world environments with less gravity," Liara explained.

It was a complete and total lie of course as that didn't make any sense scientifically. Especially since a suit that worked like that would probably have to cover your whole body to be effective. Kayap's armour wasn't anywhere near that sophisticated in the first place. But she doubted these two were well-versed in the nuances of how gravity worked. Other than the fact that things fell down when you punched them, of course.

"Why do you have a baby elcor?" One finally asked.

"I'm babysitting," she answered bluntly. "Now can I go, or do you want to explain to the Clan Leader why you kept me waiting?"

The guards parted, letting them pass. Kayap ran up to Liara's leg, or as close as he could get before being pulled back a bit. He probably just wanted to be as far away from those krogan as possible. Too bad, avoiding krogan wasn't an option.

After a long walk down a hallway through at least two sets of doors, they finally reached the inner sanctum of the Urdnot Camp. It wasn't much to look at, just a few makeshift tents that were little more than tarps on sticks strewn about the rubble. There were small campfires that spanned the area as well as some beams of light coming through the cracks in the roof. Far on the opposite end was a makeshift garage lined with a number of large personnel carriers that made the Mako on the old Normandy look like a child's toy. The newbie summed it up perfectly.

"What a dump." He stated bluntly.

"The krogan would probably agree," Liara replied as she looked around. "Remember though, this was a missile silo. It wasn't exactly built for comfort. In any case, I'd keep those thoughts to yourself. We're guests, we shouldn't speak ill of their home."

They walked towards the back of the chamber towards a raised platform, but they found themselves stopped by another krogan guard before they could get closer. However, it turned out to be for different reasons than the first two.

"The Clan Leader has been expecting you, but you must wait," he explained hastily. "He is in a... tense and uninvited negotiation."

Liara looked up to the platform above them and saw what the guard meant. There above them stood a krogan in dark purple armour, shouting loudly. More importantly though, Liara could see the Clan Leader, sitting in his throne with his familiar red armour that looked just as battle scarred and worn as ever. It matched the scar that ran across his red head crest and down the right side of his face, as did those vicious looking red eyes of his. In every way, Urdnot Wrex hadn't changed a bit since she last saw him. And yet, at the same time, he had changed.

Wrex had been a krogan mercenary Shepard had met on the Citadel. They more or less fell into becoming crewmates, as they shared a vested interest in taking down the rogue Spectre, Saren. It hadn't been an easy partnership between the two. But somehow, despite the odds, the Commander and Wrex had become the greatest of friends aboard the Normandy. Shepard had that effect on a lot of people he met. The last time Liara saw Wrex it was at Shepard's "funeral" after the destruction of the first Normandy. The krogan hadn't been aboard at the time, but he paid his respects regardless. Then some time later, for some reason, he had ended up back on Tuchanka and took over as head of Clan Urdnot.

Liara had remembered how hopeless and cynical he had been over the plight of the krogan back in the day. He believed they were doomed to die out, that his people were destined to battle themselves into extinction. Whether it was Shepard's influence or the fight against Saren that had changed his perspective, Liara couldn't say. What mattered was that Wrex was head of Clan Urdnot, the strongest clan on Tuchanka. This effectively made him the closest thing the krogan had to a head of government. A job that was not without its difficulties it seemed.

"This is unacceptable, Wrex," the krogan in purple declared uproariously. "As head of Clan Gerdok I demand the wayward females be returned to me."

Wrex looked both annoyed and angered by the opposing Clan Leader's demands. He drummed his giant fingers on his throne, his other hand propping up his head.

"Those females left you for a reason, Drakax," Wrex replied with a grumble. "You were not exactly the best mate."

"Please, spare me the lecture," the Gerdok Clan Leader spat back. "They are my property, as has been tradition within my Clan for years. They all belong to me. How I treat them is of no concern of yours."

Wrex stood up suddenly from his chair a walked slightly over to the opposing krogan.

"Fertile females are the most valuable resource we have on Tuchanka now," he informed Drakax. "What happens to them is my business as leader of Clan Urdnot. If you spent more time being a proper protective mate and less time humiliating and demeaning them then they would not have sought refuge here."

"I had to be rough. Females must know their place or be put in it," Drakax argued dismissively. "They need to understand to obey their betters or feel the wrath of them. It is the Gerdok way."

"And that is why Gerdok is on the cusp of extinction," Wrex responded ardently. "Your violence towards the females is a disgrace to all krogan. I'd rather kiss a turian on his boots before returning them to your 'good graces', Drakax. They will be staying in the female camp, protected and well out of your reach. Any children they birth will be returned to Clan Gerdok if upon reaching of age they decide to. Otherwise, we have nothing to discuss. Leave."

Wrex turned to sit back down, but Drakax did not seem to know when to shut up.

"You might as well be kissing the turians with these insane reforms of yours," he growled. "You claim to be strong, but you're the weakest krogan to ever lead Urdnot. Were it not for those abnormal biotic abilities of yours, you never would've stood a chance at becoming leader. You're not a krogan. You're a freak, a mutant! At least your father knew the importance of tradition."

Wrex stopped in his tracks at Drakax's words and turned back slowly to the angry clan leader. Without a hint of warning, Wrex suddenly rushed back and slammed his head square into Drakax's plate. There was a cracking sound as pieces flew off the Gerdok Clan Leader's crest. Wrex then grabbed him by the throat bent him over and slammed his elbow into Drakax's back. The loudmouthed krogan was soon kneeling on the floor, horizontal to Wrex. But the Urdnot Leader wasn't done. He grabbed the back of Drakax's head and slammed it into the pavement. As the downed krogan clutched at his face, Wrex kicked him clean off the edge of the platform and let him roll down to the bottom. He stopped rolling just in front of Liara.

Drakax looked up at Wrex who was staring down at him from above. Orange blood was streaming down his face as the battered Gerdok Leader clutched at his nostrils tightly.

"Ew boke ma noze!" Drakax tried to complain through his shattered snout.

"Consider yourself lucky I didn't break your legs for your slander," Wrex answered back. "Otherwise you'd be crawling home across the wastes. Now leave, before I decide to forgo mercy and do just that."

Drakax stumbled to his feet and clambered away with his tail between his legs. Liara couldn't help but smile a little as she looked up Wrex. No, he hadn't changed all that much at all. Wrex noticed her in kind and returned the slight grin. With a motion of his head and wave of his arm he asked her to come up. Liara gladly obliged and walked up the path to the platform where Wrex waited, still standing at the ready to greet her.

"Liara T'Soni," he said with a slight smile. "Long time no see. Now all I need is for Williams to wander in and I'll have caught up with the whole gang."

"It's good to see you, Wrex," Liara nodded with a returned smile. "I know it was on such short notice, I hope I'm not intruding on anything important."

"Please, talking to you will be a welcome change from some of these idiots," Wrex assured her. "Trust me on that, Drakax is almost typical of the crap I have to deal with. He'll limp home, defeated, probably get killed by a rival. Average day on Tuchanka really, you just learn to go with it."

There it was; Wrex's wonderful sense of droll dark humour. Liara had found it disturbing when they first met, now it was almost endearing.

He walked by her, sitting down on his giant rocky throne and Liara moved with her group to stand in front of him.

"If that does happen, I suppose you'll still offer any children born from the refugee females back to his clan though," Liara presumed.

"It would at the very least assure the new Clan Leader I can be reasonable, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," Wrex explained. "My concern is keeping fertile females out of harm's way for the time being."

Krogan society was strictly patriarchal, from what Liara understood. It wasn't as if the females held no power or prestige, they just happened to be a few rungs lower than the males. But from what she understood that was changing, thanks to Wrex. Given the situation, females had to be given special treatment. They needed protection and keeping them isolated from the males was the best option.

From what Shepard had told her, Wrex had set up a camp system on the head of the female clan's advice. Any female could come to the camps, where they'd be under the protection of Urdnot no matter where their birthright once was. It not only kept them safe, but solidified Wrex's position as leader. An attack on the person who was protecting all the other clans' females was an attack on those clans as well.

"You've certainly made a fair amount of changes from what I hear," Liara noted as she looked around at the less than stunning surroundings. "How's it going so far exactly?"

"More clans are starting to come over to my way of thinking," Wrex answered. "But we're still a long ways. Building alliances with them all isn't easy. They're stubborn for one, big on tradition and then you have old hatreds between clans, so there's that too. The biggest concern is beating it into their skulls that we're not going back to the days of Rebellions and why we can't. Not everyone is as willing to let things go."

The conversation was interrupted when a few plodding footsteps from the right. Wrex looked over and grimaced. Liara looked to see a krogan in white armour walking up the steps towards them, a black crest over his head and yellow eyes.

"Speaking of which, here comes the poster child for all my problems," Wrex groaned.

The krogan in white armour stopped just short of Wrex's throne, he looked to Liara once before staring at Wrex in anger.

"You dealt with Gerdok Leader without me?" He said loudly in disbelief, with a voice that was approaching an angry roar. "I thought we were going to handle this female situation together."

"Drakax was impatient, you were taking too long, so I handled it," Wrex answered back. "He will not be bothering us again."

The other krogan's frown turned to a slight grin.

"Good, you killed him then and fed his body to the varren?" He asked somewhat excitedly.

"I broke his nose and let him limp back to his people," Wrex corrected him. "The message gets a across better when you let his clan see how weak he is."

The other krogan let out an annoyed sigh before continuing.

"Well, at least we get to keep the females, a good prize," He reasoned.

"The females are not prizes or property. How many times do I have to beat this through your head?" Wrex asked him, sounding annoyed. "We are keeping them away from their abusive mate because it proves our willingness to protect any and all females. That is just how it is."

The white armoured krogan swatted his hand at the air in front of Wrex with a grumble. He then turned back to Liara, the same suspicious look in his eye as the guards from before hand.

"Who is this alien?" He demanded to know. "Have you requested an asari concubine, Wrex? How is that going to go over with the other clans?"

Wrex rolled his eyes, looking back to Liara when they stopped.

"Liara, this is my brood brother, Wreav. We share a mother, and thankfully that's all we share. I'd hate to have his brains for one." Wrex tried to stifle a bit of a laugh at that last bit. This earned the ire of Wreav who gritted his teeth at him, which Wrex just brushed off and ignored. "Wreav, this is Liara T'Soni. We were shipmates aboard the Normandy. She is simply here for business related matters, nothing more."

Liara nodded her head in respect to Wreav, trying to be a good guest.

"It is good to meet you, Wreav," she said politely. "I didn't know Wrex had siblings."

"Spare me the platitudes, alien," Wreav growled. "I don't give a crap."

Wrex's glowering frown returned almost immediately as he gave a rather harsh look at his brood brother.

"You will be respectful to my friends, Wreav," he ordered, low and threateningly. "Unless you'd prefer I break your arm... in six places... again."

Wreav backed down, if only slightly, and crossed his arms.

"What does she want?" He asked.

"I have important information for Urdnot Wrex," Liara explained. "But I need to speak with him privately on the matter."

Wreav scoffed at the idea.

"Anything you have to say to him can be said in front of me," he announced, pounding his chest.

"That's not up to you, Wreav," Wrex informed him. "I don't need you to stand over my shoulder during a conversation. Besides, you'd have little to add but the odd complaint and bellyaching I imagine."

Wreav growled again and pushed Liara out of the way so he could get in Wrex's face. Liara stumbled back but managed to hold her footing. She kept her eyes on the two krogan as Wreav continued his blustering.

"You think you can just push me around don't you? Just because you're the Clan Leader and you're in charge?" Wreav asked. "If it weren't for the fact we share a mother I'd have killed you and already taken the throne. Instead I tolerate you and your pyjak shit 'progressive' reforms. You're soft, brood brother. You rule at my courtesy, so maybe you should start treating with some actual damn respect before I rip your head off and-"

Wreav never finished his rant. Wrex, with the most deadpan, non-emotive, bored face Liara had ever seen on him, simply threw out his hand and launched a biotic ball of energy. The ball looped back around and slammed into Wreav's right side. The white armoured krogan was catapulted through the air and slammed into a far off wall. Wrex just looked at Wreav as he tried to stand up.

"I don't even need to get up to beat you, Wreav," Wrex informed him coldly. "The only reason you're still alive is because I need someone to toss against a wall every now and again to relieve stress. When you earn my respect, maybe then I'll care about what you have to say. Until then, as I've said before, you do what I tell you and you keep your idle threats to yourself. Otherwise you may just start to bore me and I'll be in the market for a new punching bag."

Wreav, to his credit, didn't slink away. He just sat there, looking defeated, but still giving Wrex a terrible glare. The Urdnot Leader stood up from his throne once more and walked over to Liara and her team.

"We can talk in my private quarters," He informed her. "Your people will have to stay outside."

"Very well," Liara agreed, "but he also has to join us."

Liara pointed to Kayap, still quivering at the sight of Wrex. The krogan raised a brow and just nodded. At very least, Liara believed he had piqued Wrex's curiosity. Liara followed Wrex to his quarters, only looking back once to see Wreav still sitting down on the floor, propped up against a wall.

* * *

Wrex couldn't offer much besides water, nothing the Krogan drank on their home world was exactly friendly to other alien digestive systems. Not because of something like different amino-acids or anything, but because krogan alcoholic beverages tended to feel like swallowing glass and heavy rocks to most people. Liara was fine with it, she wasn't in the mood to get wasted after all.

"Have to admit, I was surprised when you contacted me," Wrex told her as he looked out his window down at the Urdnot camp. "From what I heard from Shepard you were busy as an information broker."

"I still am, although the job has become bigger," Liara admitted, not out and out saying what her new job was.

"So I saw. Nice entourage," Wrex replied, seemingly impressed. "You've moved up from the looks of it."

Wrex was smarter than the average Krogan, it came from the fact he'd been off planet for so long. Liara figured he'd have put two and two together once he saw the company she kept. So there was no need to outwardly admit to her new position.

"My contacts and resources have certainly increased, that's for sure," she replied. "But on to why I'm really here. It's about Shepard."

That caught Wrex's attention, turning his gaze back towards her.

"Did he step in another pile already?" He asked.

"I think so, but it's difficult to explain," Liara answered him.

She began from the top, the wormhole, the loss of contact with the Normandy for over a week, the attack on her ship, the evidence that led to the attack's connection to Tuchanka and all while Wrex listened attentively. It didn't take long to get the whole story out and Wrex didn't seem pleased by the implications.

"You really think a group of krogan working out of Tuchanka are involved with these... aliens?" He asked.

"At the very least these aliens are on this planet or have been here," Liara clarified. "I'm trying to figure out which of those possibilities is true. I just need your help in backing me up, or at least giving me permission to look."

Wrex lightly scratched the side of his face, contemplating his next choice of words. Eventually he just shrugged.

"You know, if this was anyone else I probably wouldn't believe any of this," Wrex told her with a sigh. "But I do trust you Liara and you did bring some living evidence."

Wrex turned to Kayap. The little gas breather had taken shelter in a corner, huddled up into a little ball. Liara gave an unabashed smile as Wrex turned back to her.

"What? He's a baby elcor." Liara said slyly with a hint of sarcasm.

"Liara please," Wrex said shaking his head and laughing. "I've worked for elcor, I know elcor, an elcor was a close personal friend of mine during a job way back. That thing in the corner is no elcor. Sure as hell ain't a baby, even though it acts like one."

Liara shrugged, she wasn't trying to hide the fact from him, but it was nice to see Wrex was still sharp as ever. He still had questions though.

"What exactly is it anyway?" He asked.

"He says he's an unggoy," Liara explained. "That apparatus he wears is his equivalent of an oxygen mask. Only he breathes methane. I believe he can lead us to where these aliens are currently."

"Any clue where he's from, originally I mean?" Wrex enquired.

Liara looked at Kayap, she wasn't sure if she should share her hunch just yet. She needed to be sure and all she had was a working theory at the moment. She needed to keep an open mind until she had all the facts.

"Nothing I can be sure of for now," Liara replied. "What's important is I honestly think that these aliens have something to do with Shepard's disappearance. We need to get on the trail as soon as possible."

Wrex pulled himself up from his seat, sighing heavily. He paced around the room slightly.

"It's not that simple, Liara," He explained. "Krogan don't like aliens of any kind on Tuchanka. They're not very trusting. Moreover, I can't just walk into another clan's territory on the hunch of an asari and I certainly can't just send you alone, which would be worse. I need probable cause in either case. Plus, I can't look like I'm taking direction form an offworlder, it rouses people's suspicions. I only barely got away with Shepard because everyone knows him, even on Tuchanka, and he still had to prove himself alongside the tank-born in the trials. I have to think about my position here."

Liara understood that answer, but she would not accept it. Not with the Normandy and her friends on the line, not with Shepard's life in the balance.

"Wrex, this is about Shepard," Liara reminded him. "Not me, not you, Shepard. One of your closest friends, the person who trusted you back on Virmire. He respected you, helped you, anyone else would've just thought of you as some mercenary. He never did, he saw something else, something more."

Wrex nodded as Liara spoke, he knew she was right, he did owe Shepard, but this wasn't like it was back on the Normandy. Things had changed.

"I owe Shepard a lot, I know. I'd march into the Void and back for him, really," Wrex assured her. "But I can't exactly allow a group of aliens free reign in the territories of other clans. I can supervise, but that would risk starting a fight with the other clans. Do we even have an idea where to start looking?"

Liara shook her head sadly.

"No," she said, motioning her head over to Kayap. "He doesn't exactly have precise information. On our way here he did admit it's a building of some kind. I still think he knows enough of the layout of the land to help."

"I can't just randomly start picking out likely territories to search," Wrex told her. "I'd look paranoid, reaching for excuses to start fights, sowing indecision. I'm afraid you'll need something better than that."

Liara didn't answer at first, looking down as she sat in her chair despondently. This was not going well.

"I want to help, Liara," Wrex assured. "Really, I do, but we need a better starting point than a methane breathing prisoner you brought along. Accusing other clans of working with aliens on the advice of another alien isn't exactly a great arguing position. What if I alienate an important clan or embolden my rivals? Beyond that, all I can do is send you off into the wastes alone with minimal assistance from the scouts and even then I'm not sure many would volunteer to help."

Liara couldn't exactly blame Wrex for not giving the go ahead right away, even for her. She knew that this wasn't exactly easy for him either. They both had greater responsibilities, and being the leader of his people meant Wrex couldn't go off like he used to as a merc. She accepted that, but she still hoped he'd help.

"There must be some kind of clue we can go off of," She suggested. "Has there been anything weird happening lately? Sightings of these aliens I described?"

Wrex rubbed his chin a little, trying to think.

"Well, there's been some increased thresher maw activity, but that's common this time of year." He began. "Pyjacks are getting more brazen in their attempts to swipe our food stores, nothing new. Selgok Clan recently found a working Tomkah and they've been trying to use it as a bartering tool with us. There was a confrontation with some CDEM soldiers and one of the tribes, got bloody."

Wrex's eyes suddenly lit up and he snapped his claws together.

"Oh wait, some of the other clans have reported their trade caravans keep getting jumped by some group of bandits," He rcalled. "They claim its Kercheka Clan, but no one can really prove it."

While that was certainly a problem, Liara didn't see how it was out of the ordinary.

"Isn't banditry common on Tuchanka?" She asked.

"Kercheka is different," Wrex informed her. "They were very isolationist, kept to themselves, bunch of hermits mostly. Not the kind you'd expect to pick up banditry. Until recently, they started putting out feelers to the other clans, mostly the ones that aren't exactly thrilled about my reforms."

"Have they had any luck?" Liara asked.

Wrex just laughed at the suggestion.

"Please, my rivals barely listen to me. Kercheka isn't exactly a tribe known for its charisma," Wrex elaborated. "But most of the clans hit by these raiders are allied with me. If they are involved they could be trying to undermine my authority. I was hesitant to do anything without proof though. They've been making waves against me. I don't want to look like I'm just killing anyone outright who won't follow my vision. I need a better reason to take them down."

"Would they even accept alien help?" Liara questioned. "They don't exactly sound open to the idea."

"I know they've been getting frequent visits from the Blood Pack." Wrex answered. "Ever since Shepard did a number on Clan Weyrloc, the Blood Pack has been trying to re-establish their presence, gathering up a number of the isolated clans, strengthening them. Just like any good Krogan, they're clawing their way up from the ashes."

Kercheka having Blood Pack mercs in the midst made Liara concerned. The infamous krogan mercenary group had gotten its reputation from being violent, unforgiving and brutal in their execution. That, and besides Krogan, they had a plethora of vorcha at their command. Those vicious little creatures were only outmatched by the Yahg in their ferocity. Thankfully they were way smaller than the Yahg, too bad they weren't also quarantined to their home world.

"Do you think the Blood Pack could be working on behalf of Kercheka?" Liara asked Wrex, a hint of concern in her voice. "They could be the ones directly hitting the caravans and splitting the spoils with Kercheka for a base of operations."

"Most likely," Wrex admitted, "the attacks also seem to occur within the radius of Kercheka. They deny it as a coincidence of course, but I don't think anyone buys it. The raids on the caravans do have all the hallmarks of a Blood Pack attack though. Few survivors, everything torn to shreds, one or two dead vorcha have been discovered at the scenes of the attacks, but lots of krogan outsource to the Vorcha. They're basically attack dogs with guns after all."

"So I've heard," Liara replied, only smiling a little at the allegory. "Is there anything that doesn't match the Blood Pack MO?"

Wrex nodded rapidly.

"Yeah, that's what's really odd about the attacks. Why I brought them up in the first place," he continued. "The survivors mention artillery strikes hitting the first vehicle, green and blue explosions. Some of what the survivors keep saying suggests some of the attackers were using, get this, energy weapons."

Liara's lit up at that and she stood out of her seat in an instant.

"You mean, like plasma?" Liara asked. "Like the guns the aliens that attacked me used?"

"Yeah, I didn't really think about it until just now," said Wrex. "I figured they were just wild rumours or something. After all, plasma isn't exactly something you see every day, especially in the Blood Pack."

"That's because we have barely perfected lasers for combat, let alone full blown plasma weapons," Liara continued, her speech at a fevered pace. "There's no way the Blood Pack or Kercheka or any krogan could've got their hands on those guns without coming into contact with these aliens first."

Wrex grinned a little walking over to his gun rack on the wall as he did.

"Which means we have a place to start looking for the trail of these aliens," he reasoned as he looked over his weapons. "More importantly, all this information gives me probable cause to look into Kercheka's connection to these bandit attacks."

"Meaning you can make this an Urdnot matter. It's not just you following the requests of an asari," Liara continued for him.

Wrex just chuckled at Liara's grasp of the situation.

"That's what I always liked about you, Liara," he grinned once more. "You were always one step ahead of us in the thought department."

"Well, you were always one step ahead of me in the cracking of skulls department," Liara answered back, a cheeky smile over her admittedly flattered face.

"That I am," Wrex agreed. "Just comes with being a krogan."

Wrex grabbed his claymore shotgun and attached a striker assault rifle to his back. Liara had heard about the striker, it fired explosives rounds, very appropriate for the krogan fighting style, loud and brash. Just like Wrex. The Urdnot leader jammed a thermal clip into his claymore and looked up at Liara.

"I can gather up people within the hour," Wrex told her. "Have your men and your little gas sucking friend ready and loaded. We're heading into some hostile territory here."

"When has that ever deterred us before, Wrex?" Liara asked, that sly little smile still across her face.

Wrex could laugh back with a sinister little grin.

"Yeah, just like old times, eh Liara?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"Definitely just like them," she replied.

* * *

The journey into the wastes did indeed bring back some old memories. They were once again stuffed into a small space inside a vehicle that was constantly knocking them around every second it sped across the desolate landscape. Granted, the Tomkah was a lot more spacious than the Mako, but when you had several krogan jockeying for position within the massive infantry fighting vehicle, it didn't seem to matter. Liara found herself pressed between her team and Wrex's. If they weren't standing up and holding onto the overhead, they were sitting down and getting jostled into one another. Such was the consequence of having a pothole marked war torn highway and an even more difficult to navigate wasteland.

Wrex stood across from Liara, holding on to one of the overhead rails as they bounced across the rugged terrain. His men were lined up next to him, some sitting down, others standing. They didn't seem pleased with the cluster of aliens sitting across from them. The turian merc got the most looks, which was to be expected. At least they weren't spitting on him or anything, but that was probably only because they were all wearing helmets.

She didn't know how close they were to their target, but Liara still wanted to know Wrex's plan for this. He was after all in charge at the moment, so he had to come up with the plan. It suited Liara just fine, Wrex was more military minded than her.

"So, how are we going to go about this?" She asked Wrex.

"We get as far into Kercheka territory as we can and start walking to the city limits from there." Wrex explained. "As far as we know they own the ruins, but we aren't sure where their main camp is. That's where your little friend there comes in, of course, to lead us the rest of the way."

Liara looked over to Kayap, sitting in his corner. He was slightly less frightened looking, but he kept his eyes away from the gathered line of krogan.

"Should we be concerned with being spotted?" Liara asked. "They have to have scouts in this area and this Tomkah isn't exactly discreet."

"Krogan aren't much for sneaking." Wrex admitted. "It doesn't matter though. Frequent dust storms in the area make long range transmissions difficult. Any Kercheka scouts would have to run back to their masters on foot and we can intercept them before they make it. Even if they do spot us, energy weapons or not, we can take them."

Liara didn't doubt that, but she still wanted to surprise the Kercheka clan. If they were working with these aliens she didn't want to give them cause to flee before she could find out more about them. At least if they were spotted in the Tomkah, Liara had a bit more faith in it holding up in a fight. She remembered how fragile the Mako had been, although to be fair the vehicle had not been designed with Geth Armatures in mind. This thing could take a punch. It had to in order to survive krogan ownership.

The driver soon announced they had entered Kercheka lands. Now it was just a waiting game to see if they got spotted or not. From the looks of the krogan with Wrex, they were itching to get spotted. They kept checking their number of thermal clips, switching between fire modes, some even double checking to see if their weapons were clean. Their eagerness became more apparent when one of them spoke up to Wrex.

"I really do hope this isn't a stealth mission, Clan Leader." He began. "I want to blow some Kercheka heads off. Those desert hermits have been asking for this for a long time."

"We'll deal with them if we have to." Wrex reminded him sternly. "Until then you keep your mouth shut and you follow my lead. The same goes for everyone in this Tomkah, no exceptions."

Wrex's final words were emphasized by looking at Liara. She didn't think much of it, Wrex had to keep up the show and she understood why. He was in charge by all appearances and they had to keep it that way for the time being.

It wasn't long afterwards that the Tomkah stopped suddenly. Wrex walked up to the driver's cabin door and banged hard on it with his fist.

"What in the void are stopping for?" he demanded to know.

"We've come across some wreckage, sir." the driver shouted back through the door. "It looks like one of the trading convoys."

Wrex looked back to the group at large and motioned his head to follow him outside. He grabbed the hatch door's handle and pulled hard, opening them up to the harsh Tuchankan air and sun outside. He jumped out, landing with a thud as his feet slammed on the ground. His fellow krogan went first after him, throwing themselves out of the vehicle's hatch one by one. Liara's team followed, it was best to let the krogan leave first after all.

Liara saw that Kayap was still hiding in the corner. She motioned him to follow her. She needed him close, she couldn't trust him to be alone. Kayap reluctantly followed her out of the vehicle.

Outside, the group found themselves near the remains of a highway overpass which they now resided under. A few feet away from them, the remains of what appeared to be small caravan group resided in the sun-scorched sands of the wastes. At the center of the destruction was a demolished armoured crawler, much smaller than a Tomkah, but just as valuable to a clan that possessed one given the nature of Tuchanka's environment. Strewn about it were five krogan warriors lying dead on the ground. The wreckage was still clearly smoking as they approached.

"This looks pretty recent." Liara observed astutely. "I'd say they were hit no more than an hour ago."

Wrex walked over to one of the fallen krogan and turned the body over. On dead humpback's shoulder there was a clan crest symbol that looked like a sun with two daggers crossing it. Wrex shook his head.

"Onchokot Clan, poor bastards." He grumbled. "They must've strayed off course."

"We're pretty far inside Kercheka lands, Clan Leader." One of the krogan informed him. "You think they got into a storm or something?"

"Or maybe they were following something." Liara suggested as she approached. "Perhaps they even intended to enact their own brand of justice against Kercheka."

Wrex walked over the body and towards the burnt out crawler.

"I'll admit it's possible." Wrex relented. "I know the Onchokot Clan Leader, he's been growling over a personal claim to Kercheka territory for a while. Still, it seems a bit strange for him to send in a small scout party disguised as a caravan. They would've just attacked first and forgone recon. They're not exactly big thinkers over there."

Wrex looked over the crawler a little. It had only two pairs of wheels and apparently only sat two. On top of the slopped back driver's cabin was what appeared to be a light gun turret. Whether it was added protection or the main weapon he couldn't be sure. The remains of the driver were inside. He wasn't any prettier than his five friends lying down in the dirt.

The general damage to the vehicle was readily apparent. The front axle of the crawler had been taken clean off and there was a massive hole that cut into the other side of the cabin. It had clearly been struck by some kind of explosion. Liara rounded around the vehicle with Wrex and got a look at the damage to the passenger side. She touched the singed metal with her finger tips, brushing away at the dust to find scarring marks around where the explosion had hit. They weren't like your typical scorch marks, they were burns, energy burns.

"Plasma." Liara stated, confident in her assessment.

Wrex looked to one of the bodies, finding similar scars along his back.

"Way I figure, they were walking along and they got sidelined by some kind of plasma explosive." He reasoned as he bent down next to the dead krogan. "First hit took out most of the group while the others must've been wiped out by any infantry with them when they stripped them for weapons and supplies."

Wrex pointed over to the plasma scars that had singed one the krogan's head to illustrate his point.

"Probably took them down execution style, close-up and personal." He observed sorrowfully. "No way for a krogan to die, on his knees, no chance to fight back."

"The people who did this are probably nearby." Liara suggested. "If we can pick up the trail maybe they can lead us to their base of operations."

"Isn't that what he's for?" Wrex asked looking over to Kayap.

The little alien was hunched over near the crawler, looking at one of the bodies on the ground. Liara only looked at him momentarily, but the Unggoy didn't notice.

"I'll need to get him to start opening up first." Liara admitted. "He doesn't say much, probably out of self-preservation for all I know. I just want to keep our options open in case he doesn't cooperate."

Wrex shrugged and stood up over the body. He grimaced slightly before past the corpse and towards the direction he assumed the explosive that hit the crawler came from.

"We can start searching over there, maybe find their tracks." Wrex surmised. "But in this weather I wouldn't hold out much hope. If we can't find anything I'd suggest we all get back in the tomkah and move on. My men won't want to root around in the dirt for long."

Liara looked at the krogan as they searched the site. They were keeping their distance from Liara's people and her men were doing likewise. Probably for the best, just because they were working together didn't mean they were required to trust one another even if their bosses did. The Urdnot warriors didn't seem terribly interested in the little investigation, only looking over the bodies of the dead krogan and combing the sands around the area.

"They certainly don't seem too enthralled by things." Liara observed.

"They've been waiting for me declare war on something." Wrex admitted. "Krogan are supposed to fight and I've mostly just been talking politics with people since I took over."

"You did hand a beating to one of the other clan leaders." Liara reminded him. "And then you tossed Wreav across the room."

Wrex merely laughed a bit.

"That is how krogan politics work." He clarified. "It's probably why we never really stood chance at getting on the Council, even if the Rebellions hadn't happened. We'd be head-butting anyone who disagreed with us regularly. Not exactly something ideal for any asari or salarian I imagine."

"What about turians?" Liara asked with a grin.

"They got those plates, they'd be fine." Wrex suggested. "Although I think they'd still be pissed about it."

Liara almost laughed at that, but she remained composed and continued the conversation.

"I'm sure one day soon, if not on the Council, your people will be respected again." Liara assured him. "It's only a matter of time."

"Time isn't exactly on the side of the krogan." Wrex informed her. "Everyone knows that, but they don't seem to understand fighting with each other and the rest of the galaxy won't get us anywhere. You saw it with Wreav. He'd want nothing more than for us to just let loose and start another damn Rebellion. He's stupid like that and unfortunately there's plenty of stupid to go around. Worse, it's infectious."

Liara looked to Wrex seemingly concerned by that last line.

"You don't think he intends to, seize power do you?" She asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised. He has his own band of supporters, even within Urdnot." Wrex admitted. "He's welcome to try, but it won't work. Wreav's a dumb muscle. He couldn't lead pyjaks to a food cache if you stuck a bit of meat on a string. He'll need more than a few angry morons at his side to try something like that and if he did try I'd have a ton of supporters backing me and not him."

Wrex soon sighed after that sentence and turned to the asari with a worrisome look.

"I admit that people are getting restless though. I know how many of the clan are desperate to find an enemy. I keep promising them one that's coming, something that will define krogan history for eons." He said before giving her a knowing look. "I don't think I need to point out to you what I'm talking about."

"Of course you don't, Wrex." Liara replied. "That's been on all our minds lately I imagine. But I'm guessing they'd prefer an enemy earlier rather than later."

Wrex smiled broadly at that.

"Sharp as ever, Liara." He complimented with a chuckle. "That's what I always liked about having you around back in the day. You were also easier on the eyes than Garrus, so that was a plus too."

Liara was charmed by the compliment, but tried not to overtly show it. They still had a job to do. Although she admitted to herself that it was nice to have an old friend helping her on this, it reminded her how much she missed the old crew on the Normandy.

Wrex was a connection between that time and now for her. Truthfully, all her former shipmates were, but he was the only one here at the moment and thus the best connection she could make to that part of her life. Every time he cracked a quip, it reminded her of the old days when they were battling an evil plant monster or assaulting forward Geth bases in the Armstrong Cluster. It kept her mind on why they were both here, who this was really for.

Liara looked back to the crawler again, just give it another look. As she stared at the wrecked vehicle she noticed something odd about the damage.

"Wrex," she began with a curious look, "does that hole in the crawler look a bit odd to you?"

Liara hadn't noticed it before but the impact hole that had been left looked like it had struck the top of the driver's cabin. She could tell from the way the metal was bent, the center of the gap itself. It was centered on the corner edge slightly.

"It does seem to look like it was hit up top." Wrex concurred. "Maybe the plasma explosive was a mortar round of some kind and not like a rocket then."

That would explain the weird way the damage on the crawler looked, but there was still one question on the asari's mind.

"That's an awfully big hole in the cabin for one mortar, even energy based." She stated. "I'm not saying it couldn't be just a mortar, but what if it was a ta-"

Liara's idea never got to fully express itself for something answered her query for her. A blue explosion struck the sand just a dozen or so feet away from them. Both she and Wrex covered their eyes at the blinding blue light that filled their field of vision. When it cleared, Wrex scanned the horizon and pointed upward towards a dune.

"There!" he shouted.

Liara looked up to see a strange bulbous silhouette resting on the dune. From here it looked almost like a trapezoid in shape. It moved closer to them, passing through the dusty winds of the waste, before firing something from its top, another ball of blue plasma.

"Head for cover!" Liara yelled out to everyone.

Everyone, even Wrex's krogan followed her advice and rand for the broken overpass. The plasma came down close to the crawler, but no one was affected by the explosion. Everyone huddled together, guns at the ready as they heard the strange weapon fire again.

"Seems we just found what killed the Onchokots." Wrex observed. "Looks and sounds like some kind of mortar tank."

"They have impeccable timing." Liara grumbled, sometimes she hated being proved right.

"Maybe they felt their ear-holes burning." Wrex suggested, quickly shrugging afterwards. "Ah well, there's only one and he's got no back-up. We'll make a break for the tomkah and use the onboard heavy turret to-"

It was Wrex's turn to be interrupted as a smaller plasma bolt sped across his field of vision and the group's. No doubt it was small arms fire, which could only mean infantry even if they couldn't see them at the moment. Liara soon saw blue flashes in the dust around them, pretty much confirming that hypothesis.

"Okay scratch that," Wrex corrected, "we have a slightly bigger problem now."

As another blast struck the overpass overhead, bits of pavement and concrete cascaded down on their little group. They were effectively pinned now, and even with the thick hides of the krogan, no one seemed willing to take chances with energy weapons.

As Liara tried to find a way out of the predicament, a way to flank around or better cover, she noticed something was wrong. One of their group was missing, their little gas breathing tag along to be precise. Liara looked around hectically. Had Kayap escaped back to his own people the moment the shooting had started? Had he just run off? Eventually Liara looked over to the crawler wreckage to see that he hadn't left at all. Kayap was huddled behind the wreck, clasping his cuffed hands around his head as he dug himself deeper into the dirt.

"Our bloodhound is under fire!" Liara shouted to Wrex over the plasma fire.

The Urdnot Leader noticed, but didn't seem to care.

"So? We can find another way into the ruins and to their base." Wrex told her.

"Wrex, he's our only link to these aliens and if he has insider knowledge about their HQ here we need it." Liara answered back sternly, an unshakable look in her eyes. "Besides, he's not running back to them. I need to know why."

Wrex groaned, but he didn't argue further.

"Go, I'll cover you." Wrex grumbled. "I was sick of hiding from a fight anyway."

Wrex turned to his men and cocked the claymore in his hands. The pump action was purely aesthetic in nature, like all guns the krogan claymore used thermal clips, not real ammunition. It still proved to be a great motivator.

"Come on you whelps, we aren't dying here." He declared.

Wrex of course set the example for his men to follow. He jumped up from cover, sending a throw attack out into the field. He aimed for one of the plasma gun flashes, but through all the dust it was hard to tell if they had hit anything. Whoever was with the tank, they were letting it do most of the heavy lifting, letting it actually get close to their little group. Regardless, the assortment of krogan and Liara's team soon followed the Urdnot Leader's example. As Wrex continued to fire on the attackers, slowly moving towards the crawler, everyone else joined in. His krogan stood by their clan leader's side and fired upon plasma flashes.

Liara, in the meantime, made a beeline for Kayap's position. She slid across the sand at the last hundred meters and stopped in the cover of the crawler. Kayap kept himself curled into a ball even as Liara arrived by his side. She looked over the top of the destroyed crawler to see Wrex moving to her position while their men fell back to better cover.

It was just their luck that these plasma weapons in particular didn't seem very accurate at long range. The tank still edged closer, moving past the dust storm cover and into the open. It was bluish in colour and further along the front of its nose sat a gunner. He was a krogan wearing full black armour that covered his face. He fired what was revealed to be a plasma machine gun of sorts and forced Wrex to run back to the crawler. The former mercenary dove for safety behind the crawler and slammed his back into the wall.

"Well that clinches it," he growled in disgust. "Kercheka is working with aliens. Looks like I owe you a drink, Liara."

"I don't believe we had a bet going." Liara replied, seemingly confused.

"Eh, I owe you one anyway." Wrex promised. "But first we gotta kill that thing."

Without any heavy weapons, save for the ones on the tomkah, that was going to be difficult to pull off. As she thought over the issue in her mind, they were joined by a few members of the Urdnot soldiers and her own people.

"Gunner has got us scattered, ma'am." One of the Shadow Operatives exclaimed. "Our people are regrouping on the highway behind some rubble and working towards the ledge up top. Not sure if high ground is going to help though."

At least the tank had stopped firing its main gun, for now. They had worse problems though, as the tank drew closer, Liara peeked out to see its support walk out of the dust with it. Once again she found herself in combat with the sangheili, as Kayap called them. These ones wore helmets that covered their faces completely, but there was no mistaking them for something else. These helmets in particular had two yellow eye-holes and a large rounded plate encompassing the forehead of the alien's face. It was not open like the other sangheili helmets had been. More than likely these were a different rank or class. Alongside these sangheili were more krogan, wearing similar black armour to their gunner friend.

As the plasma fire increased, Liara turned back to Kayap and pulled him up from the dirt. He was still whimpering, but Liara didn't care right now. She needed a way to get rid of this tank and Kayap was going to give it to her.

"He do we take out that tank?" she ordered him to tell.

"I no know!" Kayap shouted. "Blow up! Make boom!"

Not very helpful advice, she needed more details.

"Does it have a weakness?" She demanded of the Unggoy.

"Backside!" Kayap yelped. "Throw boom in backside! Blow up core!"

Core? Of course, it had to have a power source that kept the gun running. But getting onto the tank to throw an explosive into it would be tricky.

"Do we have any grenades?" Liara asked Wrex.

"One," Wrex replied digging into one of his pouches on his armour and pulling out said grenade. "It's got a high explosive mod, but sticking it into this tank's engine or whatever is powering that thing isn't going to be easy. I'll need to punch my through all those guys first."

Liara looked out into the battlefield to see the sangheili and Kercheka krogan surrounding their little crawler, but keeping their distance. Then the tank fired another plasma blast at their position. Liara ducked her head back into cover as the shot slammed into the ground just a few feet away from the crawler. It wasn't safe here anymore, they'd need to move. Liara kept her cool though, they had been in worse situations after all.

"That doesn't sound too hard for you, Wrex." Liara told him with a slight grin. "I watched you bulldoze a Geth Prime, remember?"

"Yeah, but that gunner makes things a lot more difficult." Wrex explained. "I appreciate your faith in me, but my barriers won't last with that plasma machine gun nipping at me."

"I can have my men provide you cover fire while you get to back of the tank if you want." Liara informed him. "Don't worry about the gunner either. I'll take care of him personally."

Liara spoke that last sentence with an exuberant amount of resolve. Wrex just chuckled at it.

"Sometime I wonder if you got some krogan in you, Liara." He said with a slight laugh. "Alright, take out that gunner I'll give you a show. Let's move!"

They all broke out of cover and scattered, just as another plasma blast came down on the crawler directly. It didn't destroy the wreck any further, but the plasma did engulf it regardless. But while they had escaped the tank, the sangheili were quick to make up for the mistake. They began firing at the scattered group. Kayap ducked his head low as plasma started flying past his little head. When one bolt almost hit near his feet he jumped in surprise and ran ahead of Liara screaming like mad. Liara turned back and saw the sangheili taking shots at her, and subsequently Kayap. She let loose a throw and it struck the alien square in the chest. Liara doubted it would kill the sangheili outright, she had seen their strength first hand after all. It did give her and Kayap a chance to escape his gunfire.

Liara, Kayap and the Shadow Operative that had followed her, all made it to the edge of the overpass. They scrambled onto the road, determined to get to the top of the crumbled overpass. Liara needed a good line of sight towards the tank's gun if she wanted to take him down. Kayap scampered behind an overturned old krogan vehicle that was in a similar state to the crawler below in the sand. It was just as well he hold up there for now, he'd just be another target for the enemy otherwise and Liara didn't need that.

She reached the top of the overpass with her Shadow Operative. They could both now clearly see the whole battlefield below them. Most of Liara's and Wrex's teams were on the other side of the overpass, using an old car as a makeshift wall while they fired down on the sangheili and krogan below. The Kercheka krogan and their new allies were spread out across the sands in front of the crawler, the tank at the center. At the moment, most of them were focused square on the group at the opposite end of the overpass, which worked to their advantage at the moment.

It was then Liara heard a sound, a "Psst", from down below. She looked to see Wrex and two of his men taking cover behind a large chunk of rubble lying next to the side of the overpass. Liara simply nodded as Wrex, time to do her job. She had a clear shot at the krogan in the gunner seat and knew just how to deal with him. It was probably too far for any offensive biotics to work, but she could take him out of combat long enough to give Wrex a shot at the tank.

Liara turned to her operative and noticed the assault rifle on his back. Not that effective at long range and she didn't want to give away their position to the tank, so they couldn't use it on the gunner. Didn't mean it had no part in the plan though.

"When I make my move you shoot anything that isn't wearing Urdnot colours." She ordered him.

The human operative obeyed and got it his rifle ready.

"Say when, ma'am."

Liara took a deep breath and hoped Wrex was ready to make his run. She let the energy flow into her arm and then held up an open palm towards her target. Before the krogan gunner knew what hit him he was frozen in place with stasis. That was Wrex's cue and he wasted no time once he saw the gunner suddenly stop shooting. He rushed out of cover, his men covering him as he ran forward. Liara's operative began firing on the sangheili and Kercheka ahead of the Urdnot leader, trying to keep them of balance. But from the looks of it, he didn't really need the help.

Liara watched as Wrex bulldozed one of sangheili in his path, smashing his crested head into the alien's backside and sending him hurtling into the air. He then fired his claymore straight into the head of a nearby Kercheka Clansman and kept going, not even stopping to watch the body fall. Reloading his claymore once more, one of the sangheili charged forward firing his plasma weapon. Wrex didn't miss a beat, just slamming his fist into the side of the alien's head. He then let loose a biotic throw that sent another sangheili and Kercheka krogan flying backwards. Before they even landed he tossed out a shockwave that rippled across the sandy ground. It struck the two as they fell and detonated the biotic resonance around them.

The Urdnot leader continued to run up to the tank. Liara saw one of the sangheili turn to try and stop him, firing plasma at the krogan. Wrex took a hit to the hump, but only turned to rush the alien. He swung a punch that hit the sangheili in the jaw. He then stuck his claymore into the alien's gut and pulled the trigger. At this close range the powerful round of the krogan shotgun cut the alien in two. Wrex ignored the mess and ran up to the tank. He grabbed onto the back of vehicle. Liara couldn't see what happened from her position, but Wrex stuck the grenade into something and then jumped right off. He ran from the tank and mere seconds later it exploded into a plume of blue fire. One of the remaining Kercheka nearby was engulfed in flames and one sangheili took the brunt of the blast's shockwave.

As Liara expected, Wrex never looked back once until the tank's flames had died down. She could only shake her head and smile at it all.

With the tank gone, clean up was almost an afterthought. What was left of the enemy quickly pulled back from the fight and then quickly retreated altogether. They had lost the advantage without their weapon and staying would be suicide. Leaving her man with Kayap, Liara went over to Wrex as he stood on the battlefield. As she began to walk up to him, Wrex noticed that one of the sangheili was still alive. He was crawling away across the ground before the Urdnot leader put his shotgun to his head. Liara thought she could hear a defiant growl from the downed alien.

"Welcome to Tuchanka." Wrex said rather plainly, and the he pulled the trigger.

With purple blood staining the ground, Wrex put his gun away. He kept staring at the alien even where Liara approached.

"Credit where it's due," Wrex said aloud, "he didn't flinch."

"I'm just surprised he didn't blow himself up." Liara added.

Wrex looked over to the remains of the tank. The body of the krogan gunner was slumped over in the turret seat, while smoke poured out of the main gun. Already the other krogan were crowding around it and picking up the energy weapons from the fallen aliens and Kercheka.

"Well we may have gotten ambushed, but it looks like the boys are just happy they got to stomp some heads." Wrex observed. "I don't think they'll be complaining about this mission anymore. Not when they have killing these aliens to look forward to."

That was good to know. Even if their investment only went so far as their own savage instincts, Liara could accept it. So long as they were in for the duration she'd be fine with it.

"Imagine they just hope you don't steal all their kills." Liara said towards Wrex in a complimentary fashion. "You were pretty impressive out there, almost felt sorry for the Kercheka and Sangheili."

"Yeah, just like back in the day, making things dead with lots of explosions." Wrex grinned as he laughed a bit. "Couldn't have done it without that stasis of yours, it gave me just enough time to get into position."

"You certainly pulled it off with your usual flair." Liara agreed with a light smile. "What about the core Kayap mentioned though? What did it look like?"

Wrex shrugged slightly.

"It was filled with some kind of energy, probably plasma or maybe a fuel cell." Wrex explained. "I'm not sure. All I know is it was highly volatile, although that almost goes without saying."

Their conversation was interrupted by a cough from one of Liara's men. She looked to him to find Kayap at his feet. He wasn't quivering for once though. Instead he had his arms out towards her.

"He says he wants his cuffs off." The human merc said gruffly.

Wrex just rolled his eyes.

"Uh huh, and I want a lifetime supply of Ryncol." He grumbled. "Doesn't mean I'm gonna get it."

Liara wouldn't deny she wasn't suspicious at the request. She wasn't about to just go through with it, even though Kayap had cooperated thus far, but she still wanted to hear him out. She bent down and looked at the little Kayap straight in the eye.

"Why should I release your chains?" She asked him sternly. "So you can run back and warn your friends about us?"

Kayap shook his head frantically.

"Can't go back. Kayap never go back." He explained sadly.

"Why not?" She asked him.

"They see me with you." The little gas breather elaborated. "They think me help you. Me did help you. Kayap go back, they kill me. You see them try in fight! Kayap has to stay. Me help you more. Just release cuffs. They useless now, nowhere to go, have to stay. Me show you to hiding place if you do!"

Liara started to think and looked back at Wrex. The Krogan didn't seem convinced.

"You really buy that?" He asked her. "How do we know he's not just going to run off or try to grab one of our guns?"

"They were shooting at him, I saw it." Liara assured Wrex. "And from what I saw on my ship, the sangheili didn't exactly seem to care all that much about their lives. Perhaps the Unggoy are lower on the hierarchy."

The little gas sucker suddenly bobbed his head up and down.

"Sangheili treat Unggoy like dirt. Worse than dirt." He swore. "They throw us into fight and expect us not come back."

It was hard to just outright trust her prisoner, but he seemed sincere. Besides, he wasn't much of a threat. Anyone in the group could easily take him down before he got off a shot. Still, it was a bit risky to just release his bonds. Liara looked back to Wrex, but he seemed to know already what her answer would be.

"You're not gonna give him a gun at least, are you" He asked her grumbling.

"I may be compassionate, but I'm not stupid, Wrex." Liara replied sternly.

"That I know, T'Soni." Wrex complied. "Just keep your eyes on him okay? Even if he is telling the truth maybe he'll enjoy the extra attention from an asari. I know tons of people who would."

Liara rolled her eyes at Wrex's little joke. She then released Kayap and let the cuffs drop to the ground. The little alien rubbed his wrists a little before going back to standing on all fours.

"Now, where are your friends hiding out?" she asked him.

Kayap pointed in the direction of the tank had come from.

"Ruins that way." He exclaimed. "Find me good spot to look. Me show you where base is! Promise!"

* * *

Kayap was good as his word, however grammatically challenged that word was. After an hour of guiding the tomkah's driver through the dust they finally made it to the outskirts of the Kercheka city ruins. It wasn't much to look at, like most cities on Tuchanka. It was a nuclear blasted radiation scarred corpse of a once thriving urban jungle. All that remained were the crumbling highways, some smaller buildings and what looked to be a toppled skyscraper lying on its side. All Liara could see was utter devastation, no signs of life or something worth holding. At least Urdnot Territory had a few tall buildings standing, this place was a mess off concrete and rock scattered across the ground. There was nothing she could see from here that stood out to her as a place to start looking. No funnels of smoke indicating a fire, no visible camps, nothing.

She knew she shouldn't be that surprised by the look of the place, this was Tuchanka. Given their history, however, Liara expected something to stand out, something that pointed to Kercheka's longevity.

"How did the Kercheka live here isolated for so long?" Liara asked. "The place looks absolutely barren."

"No one knows, but there are a ton of rumours." Wrex began to explain. "Some clans say they have an underground tunnel network and they use to steal from other Clan food stores or that there is a crashed Salarian supply ship they are keeping secret. They could be just too stubborn to die from starvation. No one has ever gone this far into their territory to find out, but it's exactly why other clans like Onchokot keeping arguing why they should own it instead."

"Suspicion and paranoia does often feed conflict." Liara conceded. "I suppose we'll find our answers to those questions when we locate their lair."

That wouldn't be easy in this ruin, but luckily they had Kayap. He had gotten them this far, time for him to prove Liara's faith in him. She bent down to the little gas breather as he scanned the horizon.

"Do you know where the Kercheka camp is from here, Kayap?" She asked him calmly.

Kayap didn't look at her. He instead kept scanning the devastated skyline. Thirty seconds later he suddenly stuck his arm out in front of him and rapidly pointed it in one direction.

"There! Blocky building there!" he shouted.

Liara grabbed a pair of binoculars from one of her men and looked to where Kayap was pointing. It took her awhile, but she soon saw it. It was a large foreboding building somewhat in the shape of a trapezoid surrounding it appeared to be smaller but very sturdy looking towers. She passed the binoculars to Wrex pointed his gaze towards the building. Liara bent down to Kayap's level once more and asked him if he was sure that was the building, the little alien only nodded.

"What is that place, Wrex?" She asked the Krogan leader.

"Looks like some old prison from before the bombs fell." Wrex surmised. "I'm not that shocked its still standing, those places were veritable fortresses. Had to be to keep Krogan criminals locked up."

It was a bit weird to hear that Krogan society once had a system of law and order given their violent past. But Liara supposed the Krogan couldn't have gotten so far as a society unless they maintained something of a sort before nuclear hellfire destroyed their civilization.

"What crimes would lead to locking a krogan up?" Liara asked him. "I'd imagine you'd just kill the offenders."

"It would mostly be prisoners of war or deserters." Wrex elaborated. "There were probably a few common criminals like thieves that no one thought were worth killing, but for anyone else the place would just be a glorified holding pen until execution. Not exactly a glorious existence for many Krogan, it was worse during the Rebellions from what I hear."

Liara didn't need to know about that part. All she needed to know is that if these places were built like fortresses then it was a perfect spot for the Kercheka clan to hide out in along with their new alien friends. The problem now was how they were going to get there. Now that they were this close to the Kercheka camp, they were bound to stumble across enemy patrols. They needed to avoid them best as possible. Liara turned to Kayap once more.

"Can you get us to the prison safely?" she asked him.

"Know patrol path like back of hand." Kayap assured. "Had me walk it for weeks. Got blisters on blisters. Follow me."

The unggoy rushed forward a bit on all fours, but remained close by ushering the others to follow him into the ruins below them. Wrex huffed with a grimace as they moved out. His eyes were fixed on Kayap even as he spoke to Liara.

"Are you sure we can trust that little midget?" He asked her. "He could be leading us into some kind of trap."

"I think he's too scared of you and your warriors to try even if he wanted to." Liara replied, trying to reassure her friend. "Plus, he doesn't seem like the devious type."

Wrex sighed slightly. Liara could just sense the cynicism in his breath.

"I just don't think we should be so willing to follow a former enemy around is all." Wrex explained. "He may not be the scheming type, but how can we be sure he's telling the truth about his people killing him if he tries to go back?"

"We can't, not right now at least." Liara admitted. "But he had the perfect opportunity to try back during the ambush and he didn't. I'm trying to trust my instincts here, Wrex, and they're telling me he's not a threat."

Wrex grumbled in his throat for a moment, shaking it off.

"For what it's worth I hope you're right, it would be a shame to waste the ammo on something so squishy." He relented.

* * *

Following Kayap into the ruins, everyone got a close look at the devastation the Kercheka lived in. What little remained of the sandblasted nuclear torched rubble was complemented by what few vehicles lay about the broken roads. Rusting old cars from before the nuclear fire that scorched the planet littered the area, making what should've been a straight road into a winding maze. Wrex and his men clearly didn't like it, Liara shared the sentiment. This area was pretty good ambush territory. Whether Kayap knew that or not, she couldn't be sure. He was still staying pretty close to them all, not running off on them.

Kayap suddenly stopped, sticking his nose up into the air and sniffing deeply. His demeanour went from relatively calm to extremely agitated in seconds. He scrambled back closer to her, waving his arms like mad.

"Hide! Hide!" He screeched at them.

He scampered across the rusting cars into one of the ruined buildings and kept motioning them to follow him frantically. The group quickly followed suit, getting into cover with the little methane sucker who was now in his usual state, crumpled up on the floor shivering. Liara soon saw what had spooked him so hard. Walking down the ruined road, turning the next corner and coming their way, were a group of Kercheka scouts patrolling the area.

"I thought he said he knew where all the patrol routes were." Wrex growled.

"Well they must've changed some of them around or they're lost." Liara reasoned, doing her best to draw any suspicion from Kayap deliberately doing this.

It didn't make sense for him to warn them about running into a patrol in Liara's mind. Nor did it make sense for him to tell them all to hide. Although Kayap's cowardly antics oddly seemed to dismiss the notion of him backstabbing them for her.

"Sssshhh! They hear us." He hushed them.

Kayap's advice was sound enough. They just had to sit tight in these ruins and let them pass. With any luck they wouldn't notice them. The Kercheka slowly made their way through the maze of rubble and rusting metal. Eventually they began to pass by their position. Everyone pressed into cover, even the krogan going against their usual nature. Although Liara could see the idea of letting the enemy past pained even Wrex, as he grit his teeth and tightly gripped his shotgun.

One of the krogan stopped mid walk and looked to the ruins. Either a sound caught his ears or something caught his eyes, either way Liara readied her gun for the possible fight ahead. The krogan leaned in to look into the ruin ever so slowly, just inches away from Liara's position. She aimed down the sight of her pistol, expecting to be spotted in the next few seconds.

But she never fired her weapon, she didn't have to. Something hit the krogan in his eye and he fell over dead. Suddenly there was shooting, but nothing from their side. Liara looked out to see two Kercheka scouts take several shots to their torsos before going down. Liara could distinctly make out the laser sights that were aimed at them. The Kercheka scouts shot at buildings up the road with sporadic fire. They weren't hitting anything, that much was apparent, but something was taking them out with relative ease.

The biggest surprise, however, was soon to come. Liara looked above on top of one of the ruins, thinking she saw something. Said something reached the edge of the destroyed building and launched itself from on high. A black blur crashed down on one of the krogan, stabbing it in the neck with some kind of blade. Before the Kercheka scout could react a terrible electrical shock erupted, coursing through his entire body.

The black blur jumped off the krogan as he fell down, his flesh smoking. The figured followed the action up with a slash across a near krogan's throat. It wasn't enough of a cut to kill a creature like a krogan though, so Liara didn't see the point of it at first. As she looked at the krogan grasping at the cut though, she thought she saw some kind of resin or gel in the wound. The fast moving shadow stepped away quickly at that moment and pressed down on the hilt of his sword. Before Liara could comprehend what was going on the krogan's head had exploded.

The shadow had stopped moving now and it now became clear what it was. He was clad in black armour from head to toe, with only a few yellow highlights on the arms. He sported a distinctive rounded helmet, albeit this one slightly more sloped in the back than most. His chest plate was stuck out to give his concave bone structure look a bit more impressive. It was unmistakable a salarian and that meant the mysterious snipers had to be salarians as well.

There were salarians on Tuchanka. That meant only one thing and Wrex seemed to already know it. With the Kercheka dead, he vaulted himself out of the ruin and pointed his gun to the salarian in black. The salarian replied in kind by readying the sword.

"If you don't want your friend dead you'll come out now!" he shouted out into the ruins.

Apparently, they didn't need much coaxing. Pooling out of the rubble nearby appeared a small squad of salarians, moving in their direction, their weapons aimed at the new krogan target. The other Urdnot soldiers had stepped in behind their chief to back them up as the two groups neared each other with the salarian in black in the middle. Liara stepped out with her team, hoping to mediate things before they got heated again.

"Wrex, they followed your instructions." She hesitantly piped up. "Maybe you should lower your gun."

"Them first." Wrex growled. "Krogan know better than to turn a blind eye to salarians."

It didn't look good and the prospects of a peaceful resolution seemed dim. But thankfully someone managed to get the salarians to lower their guns, their Commanding Officer.

"Stand down, men!" Cried out a voice from the back of the salarian squad. "We blew our cover to help them, remember?"

The salarians lowered their guns, as did Wrex, but his eyes steeled at the voice. Liara knew exactly what he was thinking, they knew that voice. As the salarians parted the familiar greenish speckled face of a salarian clad in brownish armour stepped forth. He walked over to the black armoured salarian and nodded once, getting him to sheath his sword in the scabbard on the small of his lower back.

Wrex wasn't even about to let the salarian commander get the first word in on things it seemed.

"Captain Kirrahe," he growled, "as if this day couldn't possibly get worse. Now the blasted Void throws the damned STG at us."

"It's Major Kirrahe now, Urdnot Wrex," The salarian replied, trying to sound professional in his answer, but one could detect the slight bit of distaste in his voice. "And you're welcome. I just saved your life from those Kercheka."

"Like hell you did." Wrex grimaced at him. "You just saved me the bullets."

Liara stepped forth to cool things down a bit. Wrex and Kirrahe weren't exactly friends. The last time they had met was on a little planet called Virmire when Kirrahe had called Wrex's people a mistake. That and the salarian had told them they had to destroy a cure for the Genophage that the rogue Spectre Saren had cooked up. While the Krogan had put his anger over the necessities over the mission aside, Liara knew he hadn't stopped disliking and outright hating the salarian officer.

A Special Tasks Group squad, or STG, certainly complicated things further. But unlike Wrex, Liara considered Kirrahe a friend. Maybe they could use this to their benefit. But first things first, what were they doing here?

Kirrahe turned to Liara as she approached and his stern frown turned to a pleasant slight grin.

"Dr. T'Soni," he greeted, "what a surprise seeing you here."

"I could say the same thing, Major." Liara replied back. "I wasn't aware STG was allowed to have people on Tuchanka."

"My people uplifted the krogan, Doctor." He answered, and yet at the same time did not answer. "Then we developed the disease that keeps them in check. We have an invested interest in keeping tabs on them."

Wrex growled again and approached the Major.

"You don't have the authority to do that." He informed the Major. "You're not CDEM and you're not Krogan, you have no business here."

"And if I'm not mistaken this is Kercheka territory, not Urdnot." Kirrahe rebuffed. "Do you really want to make that kind of argument?"

Wrex almost stepped forward another inch, but he was blocked by the black armoured Salarian. Thankfully, Kirrahe put his hand on his man's shoulder before he did anything beyond that.

"Easy, Agent Saya Empa, we don't need a confrontation arising over this."

The Salarian in black, Saya Empa, pulled back once more but remained close to the Major. Wrex just looked to Liara and stepped to her side. It was a slight indication he was willing to let her do the talking.

"Why exactly are you in Kercheka territory, Major?" Liara asked.

"Sadly, I believe that is on a need to know basis." Kirrahe replied. "And does it matter? I think we're doing the other Clans a favour. Our intel suggests that Kercheka isn't exactly popular right now with many people."

"We don't need you policing us." Wrex snarled at Kirrahe, his anger still apparent. "We can handle our own problems just fine, including Kercheka. The last time you people started interfering we ended up sterilized. So don't claim you're doing us favours."

Kirrahe was unmoved by Wrex's disagreement, but Liara remained persistent in her questioning. She could read the wear and tear on these salarians, they had been here for a while. They were dirty, covered in dust and some looked tired. The fact they knew so much about the Kercheka says they had studied this Clan beforehand, which meant they had know what was going on in part.

"If you have that kind of intel you've been here for a while now." She observed. "You must be aware of Kercheka getting outside help from an alien party. That's why we're here and I imagine the same goes for you. So, at this point I think secrecy is redundant."

"I have my orders, T'Soni." Kirrahe replied steadfastly. "I can't break them, not even for friends."

"I understand, Major, but I have my own intel on who those aliens are. I'm willing to give up that information to you. I can only assume you helped us, besides just us being friends, because you wanted help as well." Liara coolly stated. "Now, we can help each other, but we need to be open with everything first."

Kirrahe gave it some thought. You could always see a salarian's brain working, the gears running in his head as he went over the stuff you told him at lightning speed. It was the eyes, those big eyes made telegraphing someone way too easy. At last he sighed and relented.

"I do admit this mission hasn't gone as well as we planned." The Major said shaking his head. "We expected something in the vein of a PMC or rogue military element, not... this."

He took another breath before he continued.

"About a week ago we received information regarding an attack by the Blood Pack on one of our genetic research labs in our outer colonies." Kirrahe explained. "It didn't seem to match their regular MO. What really stood out was the descriptions of some of their arms. There were reports of needles that exploded, rapid fire plasma weapons, the kind of stuff that just didn't make sense for Blood Pack to be carrying around. We suspected they were being supplied weapons from an outside party. Weapons that helped them carry out the raid. We tracked them back to Tuchanka and the Kercheka Clan. Then we confirmed they had a sufficient stockpile of new weapons, said energy weapons. And worse, plasma weapons mounted on vehicles. It was a shock to say the least."

Out of all of that, what interested Liara the most was the raid on the salarian lab. Why would the Blood Pack or Kercheka want to raid that? What value was there for Krogan? Unless it had actually been the aliens rather than the Kercheka that had issued the contract for the raid on the lab and the Kercheka were just another partner. But still, why?

"What exactly did they go to the lab for?" Liara asked.

"We know they took something, but they never told us what." Kirrahe admitted. "I can't be more help there. What I can tell you is that their headquarters is heavily fortified."

"It's a prison, we know how well defended it is." Wrex cut in.

Kirrahe shook his head slightly.

"No, like I said they have plasma mounted vehicles, a lot of them." He elaborated. "They're stationed around the perimeter. A frontal assault is suicide and we can't figure out a way around them. We've been stuck in these ruins trying to come up with a plan and stay out of sight."

"Perhaps then we can provide a way inside." Liara informed him.

She turned to the ruins and motioned her arm towards her as she called for Kayap. Before long the little alien stumbled out of the ruins and bent down next to her.

"What is that?" Kirrahe asked confused.

Wrex looked at the Unggoy and got a bemused look on his face. He turned back to Kirrahe, trying his best not to laugh as he spoke.

"It's a baby elcor." Wrex chuckled slightly.

"His name is Kayap, and I think he can get us inside the prison." She explained to the Major, turning to Kayap when she had finished. "Is there another way besides the front?"

Kayap was quick to respond with frantic series of nods.

"Yeah! Yeah! Big pipe, underground, lead to base. Was taking you to it before. Lead right to below prison floor."

"And you know that how?" Wrex asked him, not entirely convinced.

Kayap fiddled around with his fingers a little before he admitted the reason.

"Me... used it to slip off from patrol and sleep." He explained sounding a bit embarassed. "Only me knew about it."

"Why am I not surprised?" Wrex announced as he sighed heavily.

It seemed like their best shot at getting inside. If they broke into the base from below they could maintain the element of surprise and catch the aliens unawares. Kirrahe wasn't entirely convinced of the idea though.

"Even if we do get inside we'll have to contend with those plasma tanks they got in the perimeter." He informed them all. "We don't exactly know how to take them out."

"We do," Liara told him straight up, "working together we may in fact have a better shot at infiltrating and then getting out of their alive."

Again, not everyone was sold on that idea. Wrex's krogan included.

"Now we're working with the frogs? What kind of pyjak crap is this?" One asked.

Liara looked to Wrex, hoping he'd see reason in this. She could tell how much he didn't like the prospect of working with Kirrahe again, but this was bigger than petty past grievances. Once Wrex got a good look at Liara's gaze, his tune shifted. He was quick to assert his authority back over his troops.

"We are not working with the salarians, we are using them." Wrex explained to them proudly. "Because they know we'd probably kill them or the Kercheka will kill them before they can do any real damage. They'll follow and do their part in destroying the tanks around the perimeter. We will focus on the aliens inside. We're getting the fun job here, don't complain."

That seemed to shut them all up. With that all resolved for now, Kayap took point again to lead them to the pipe. Liara decided to explain to Kirrahe how to destroy the tanks on the way. All the while she kept looking at Wrex, trying to see if he was going to be okay with this. At least this time, both he and Kirrahe had the same goal in mind. With any luck, that would be enough for him to look past their many differences. Knowing what she did of the krogan, she had faith in that chance. Wrex didn't hold many grudges, thankfully. Any person he did hold one with was probably long dead by now in any case.

* * *

The sewer was old and crumbly and smelled of a number of foul substances Liara did not care to think about, let alone imagine their origins. The pipe they were trekking through was cramped and dark. It forced them to use their flashlights if they wanted to find their ways. It sort of reminded Liara of the many abandoned mining facilities they had raided on the first Normandy. That was especially so with the ankle deep water sloshing around her feet as she walked.

She was just grateful her current armour set was water proof. Just because she was a former archaeologist who didn't mind getting dirty, that didn`t mean she was fine with the idea of bodily waste pouring into her shoes and onto her feet. Regardless, Liara still wished she had Tali's enviro-suit. Not only was it even better sealed than her current attire, it had olfactory filters for the various horrible smells.

Wrex was up front with her, their forces were directly behind them, mashed together in the middle of the column, while the Salarians and Kirrahe took up the rear. It was probably best for now if it remained that way for the time being.

"I would've thought you'd be over Kirrahe's insults by now." Liara mentioned to Wrex. "It's been over two years."

"It's not about him telling me to my face my people are a mistake, Liara." He assured her. "I just inherently try to be cautious around salarians. Granted I don't hate them like Wreav does, but I have issues trusting them. Salarians are notoriously tricky. Their minds work at super speed. It's hard to figure them out."

"I highly doubt Kirrahe intends to betray us." Liara tried to assure him.

"No, but he is here to police issues we should handle on our own." Wrex replied. "He's here to remind us who's really in charge of Tuchanka now and I don't intend to let him get away with that. I'm the Clan Leader, it's my job to keep the other Krogan in line, and he needs to realise that. Every time I look at him now, it's a constant example of how they want to control our daily life. It makes me sick."

Liara could understand Wrex's frustration. He was in charge of his people and here was a group a black ops soldiers from another planet trying to do his job. She wanted to tell him that there was no sense in dwelling on it. There was no way he was going to piece together Kercheka's outside involvement on his own. Like he said before, he had needed evidence first and Liara was the only one that got him one.

That and letting an STG team run around Tuchanka for who knew how long was probably eating at him too. He should've been able to find out about their presence and dealt with them quickly. At least that was what he had to be thinking. Liara could only make assumptions about her friend for now, and she didn't want to agitate him further with the salarians nearby. To his credit, he had been doing his best to keep things civil and his soldiers were following by example.

"You're taking this a lot better than I thought." Liara observed.

"You should be congratulating my warriors." Wrex told her. "I can suppress my urge to bash their little froggy heads in easy. They don't usually have the same restraint."

"Kirrahe still didn't leave a great impression on you." Liara recognized. "I know you're probably still angry with him, forcing your hand like that on Virmire. It couldn't have been easy to just let that cure go up in flames."

Wrex didn't say anything for awhile, he kept his head down and his step became heavier. It was a strange change of demeanour, but it wasn't anger, it looked like shame.

"There was no cure." Wrex just blurted out.

Liara looked at him confused.

"What are you talking about?" She asked him.

"I told Shepard this in private when he arrived on Tuchanka," he began to explain in a sombre tone. "I went back to Virmire after the Normandy blew up. Checked out the crater that was Saren's Lab. I tried to find a trace of the cure, something I could use, maybe it survived. I don't know why I thought that, but all I found out was that Saren hadn't figured out a cure, he was just pumping out shock troop krogan clones."

Once more, Wrex remained silent as they walked forward. Liara didn't press him to continue, fearing she'd interrupt his thoughts.

"I almost turned on the one real friend I had in decades for a lie." He said sighing deeply. "It was humbling to say the least."

Wrex had never been one to wear his heart on his sleeve. This was the closest he had ever gotten to it. It was nice to see the Urdnot leader had perspective on himself, but really, in a way, she already knew he was capable of that.

"I'm glad neither of you pulled the trigger that day." Liara informed him, trying to lighten his mood. "The galaxy would be lesser for it if we had lost you, Wrex. We wouldn't have your charming personality for one."

Wrex just gave his trademark chuckle as they kept sloshing through the water.

"Don't focus so much on what you might've done back then. Just remember what you actually did." She continued with a brief a touch of his shoulder. "In a way, I was proud of you that day. I'm not sure how many of us in your position would've found the strength to do the right thing, even if it was against what you wanted."

"Nah, it was mostly Shepard, let's not deny that." Wrex corrected her. "He convinced me, reminded me of why the Krogan were really dying. He's the reason I'm here in the first place."

"That may be true," Liara admitted, no Normandy crew member would deny that fact, "but he didn't make you do any of the things you've done as Clan Leader, he just inspired you. I find that learning something about yourself and what you want is one thing, but actually doing something with that knowledge is another. Be proud of yourself for committing his words into your actions."

Wrex only nodded and they continued to walk forward in silence for awhile.

"So, what did Shepard help you figure out about yourself then?" He asked her suddenly.

It was a fair question, but it wasn't an easy answer. Shepard had made her learn a lot of things and she had done a lot of things with what he had taught her. However, it was hard to explain it all in the proper words and she wasn't really ready to anyway.

"Mainly that mining lasers are incredibly useful for breaking out of ancient prothean ruins." She quickly pieced together.

"And bringing them down at the same time too." Wrex added with a laugh. "Good times, hopefully we'll have more."

"If this mission succeeds we most certainly will." Liara assured him.

Kayap eventually came to a stop above a small grate a few inches above them. Small beams of light pooled in from above, along with what little fresh air one could breathe in.

"That lead inside." He said. "We under them now."

"Well, a fat lot of good that does us from down here." Groaned one of the Wrex's men at the sight of the grate, it was an apt choice of words.

"I don't suppose anyone brought some explosives?" Added one of the Shadow Broker mercs, with his tone sounding rather annoyed at where they had been led to.

Explosives would work, but they couldn't just expect to strap a bunch of grenades to the grate and hope it would make a hole big enough for them to climb out of. They'd need specific shaped charges if they were going to get inside from here. Luckily for them, it seemed one of Kirrahe's men was on top of that.

Pushing his way through the crowd of krogan warriors, human operatives and turian mercs, was that black armoured Salarian, Saya Empa. He didn't say a word, much like before. He just passed Liara and Wrex and walked up to the grate. Kayap ran back to Liara as he approached. The Salarian kept looking at the grate for a moment, seemingly studying it for awhile.

"If you have an idea we'd love to hear it." Wrex expressed a bit agitated at the salarian. "Probably this century, if you don't mind telling us that is."

Slowly, Saya Empa pulled out his sword again. Liara got a better look at the blade this time. The hilt appeared to be streamline with the razor edge. The sword itself had a bluish tint to its metal, only curved towards the top. Along one edge of the blade, the top edge of the sword to be precise; was a strip of metal that continued on from the hilt. It stopped following up the side of the sword when it reached near the tip, allowing it to still be used as a stabbing weapon no doubt, but that still didn't explain the metal strip on one side of the blade.

"What kind of sword is that?" Liara asked Kirrahe as he approached.

"Shiakala," the Major replied, "one of STG's most recent developments. There are only a few hundred in service and they're reserved for very highly skilled infiltrator agents."

"Swords sound a bit primitive for you salarians if you don't mind me saying." Wrex suggested.

Liara watched as Saya Empa flicked something on the hilt and held his sword low. After a few seconds he scrapped the top of the wall in a circular motion before backing away towards them. Looking closely, Liara saw that same familiar resin she believed she spotted before and just as before Saya pressed down on the hilt and the resin just ignited. An explosion broke through the concrete around the grate, when the dust settled there was a large hole in the ceiling. It was their way inside.

"It's not your average sword." Kirrahe said looking to Wrex, sounding rather smug.

"It secretes an explosive gel." Liara announced, ousting the little secret. "It can be used to discretely breech areas and leave little evidence behind of its use."

"That's very Astute of you, T'Soni. Depending on how much you apply to the target it can do more than that." Kirrahe added. "STG always needs explosives now and again, but it's hard to conceal them or carry them when you need to pack light. The gel is fabricated within the hilt of the weapon with tiny replicators and pooled across the blade on command when it is pressed. The strip that covers the back end of the sword is how the gel goes from the hilt to be siphoned to the weapon proper. Once it leaves the blade, it solidifies into a potent combustible. Given its temporary liquid nature, however, not many possess the finesse to properly apply it without risk of collateral damage."

That wasn't all the sword could do though, Liara had seen it pull something else out in the ruins.

"And what about the electrical current it produces, Major?" Liara asked. "Doesn't that seem like overkill?"

"The metal strip does generate an electrical flow through use of a small battery pack also contained within the hilt, yes." Kirrahe admitted. "It's mainly for use against potential synthetic targets, Geth, Mechs-"

"Or bigger targets that you need to put down because a simple stab won't do it." Wrex growled, cutting the salarian off. "Don't try and fool me, Kirrahe. This weapon is designed for krogan first and synthetic enemies second, isn't it?"

Kirrahe didn't deny that of course, in fact he didn't respond to the question period. And why would he feel should anyway? He had never felt like he needed to justify his government or his actions to Wrex before. So why would he start now? Instead, Kirrahe joined Saya Empa as he walked towards the freshly made hole.

"I suggest we keep moving." He told them. "The Kercheka are still our priority."

Wrex grumbled to himself as he approached the hole with Liara.

"So the salarians are making weapons against us." He said with a growl. "Why am I not surprised?"

"You can't say they don't have their reasons," Liara said trying to calm him, "what with the Kercheka and your brood-brother."

"I understand," Wrex assured her, "but it's just another reminder the galaxy is still afraid us and how far we have to go to fix that. Even with the genophage they still see us as if we were a plague of thresher maws waiting to strike."

"There's nothing we can do about that now, Wrex." Liara told him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We need to focus on why we're here, the Kercheka and finding Shepard."

Wrex just nodded simply, what little rage left inside him dying as they turned to the hole and climbed up.

Inside they found themselves in one of the larger rooms of the prison, perhaps it used to be a gym or garage of some sort. They couldn't tell because of what was occupying it currently. There were six of the deadly plasma mortar tanks they had encountered, three of each lined up against the walls. They were unoccupied, but it was still chilling to look at them all.

"There were exactly this many tanks outside in the perimeter area." Kirrahe observed. "If there are other rooms in this prison complex filled with these..."

"Kercheka might be thinking of making a play for the other clans' territory." Liara suggested.

"Over my dead hump they are." Wrex growled. "We're shutting this place down."

For once it seemed Kirrahe and Wrex agreed on something. The salarian quickly formed a strategy as everyone gathered around in a huddle.

"My people can secure the perimeter." He assured them. "We'll deal with the tanks currently operational. That should make our escape easy enough."

"Fair enough, but what about the Kercheka leader and their alien friends?" Liara asked.

"They're probably in the main courtyard at the center of the cellblocks." Wrex surmised. "If I was fortifying a prison as a fortress that's where I'd set up. With any luck, the aliens are there with them."

So a plan was more or less formed and the teams split up. Liara and Wrex's groups went one way while Kirrahe's team went the other. They were to meet back up in the central cellblock area when the fighting started. That wouldn't happen until one group heard the other shooting. It seemed like the most practical form of a signal, given they were on the krogan homeworld.

* * *

Slinking through the halls of the prison, Liara found the place eerily silent. For awhile they only encountered a few krogan, only really hearing their voices echo through the halls. Liara thought this peculiar, expecting a lot more patrols in their path to the central cellblock.

That was not to say the place was entirely abandoned. Now and then they saw some of the Kercheka guards moving through the prison themselves, just missing them by feet. It was unnerving, watching quick glimpses of the enemy as pass close so close to them.

Each time they saw Kercheka, they were forced to take shelter to avoid getting spotted and had to wait for them to move on. Thankfully, they were a lot of open cells on their way to their destination. Ducking into them proved the most effective way of keeping out of sight. One or two Kercheka may have saw a flickering shadow as they moved into cover, but they soon moved on, mostly in the same direction. Liara could just tell something was going on.

They continued to follow the directional lines on the floor and walls that spanned the complex, leading them ever closer to the central cellblock. They found cover in some demolished prisoner cells that looked down on the central chamber that was patterned in a kind of circle from the top to the very bottom. Above them was a steel cage dome. Below was the courtyard for the cellblock. As well as Liara's answer to why the prison felt so deserted.

The courtyard was crawling with Kercheka, who had made their own little camp in the middle of the prison. Right now it played host to most of the clan itself as they surrounded what Liara could only assume was the throne for the Clan Chief. There were boxes and two more of those plasma mortar tanks behind the throne. Between them were four smaller vehicles of similar aesthetic design, but they didn't look like tanks. Strewn about the courtyard itself were dozens of boxes and strange purple coloured equipment. They had definitely found where the aliens were holding up.

Getting out her binoculars, Liara looked down at the throne room below. She could make out a large intimidating krogan standing next to it. He wore dark purple armour and sported a matching blackish-violet crest. The shoulders of his armour were lined with heavy pads and there was a big bright blue streak that stretched from his neck to his sternum. Most damning of all though, he was standing next to a sangheili in gold armour and screaming at him from the looks of it.

"Recognize him, Wrex?" she asked her Krogan friend as she passed the binoculars to him.

Wrex took a look for about five seconds before he answered.

"Clan Leader Rekok," he grimaced, "yeah I know him. He's always makes a lot of idle threats and accuses the other clans of everything from stealing water to sending plagues of pyjaks his way. Even my father didn't like him and Rekok wanted to bring back the rebellions as much as anyone."

"Charming fellow," Liara said rather derisively, "it seems the sangheili is getting a taste of his hospitality at the moment."

"Any idea what he's saying?" Wrex asked.

Liara took the binoculars back and flipped on a laser microphone attachment. She just had to aim it at the conversation and it would be as clear to her as is she was standing next to them. It was pretty much what she expected it to be.

"You promised you would be discreet, that you would leave only enough survivors to spread rumours of our slowly approaching dominance!" Rekok shouted in a rage. "Now? Now I have Urdnots on their way! Your warriors should've stayed and fought, finished them, with or without the tank!"

"Then we would not know of their coming." Argued the sangheili back to his krogan counterpart, and sounding a lot more relaxed while he did. "They would be dead and we would be unprepared to face them."

"You've already sent half of my garrison to patrol the damn ruins!" Rekok shouted back. "How is that preparing?"

"They will be discovered in due time thanks to the doubling of patrols and the already potent forward guard will dissuade any frontal assault." The sangheili continued to argue. "Even if they do get in here, our forces will be ready. They are but one small group, they are nothing."

Rekok balked at the suggestion, throwing his hands up at the sangheili.

"You obviously don't know much of Urdnot. They're the dominant clan for a reason." He declared. "This would've been far simpler if you took that ship of yours and just started levelling what remains of their precious cities like I suggested from the beginning! We have the power now! Why did we not strike sooner?"

"Then you would've gained the ire of the CDEM prematurely and you wouldn't have lasted long against that kind of assault."

That was not from either Rekok or the sangheili. The voice was somewhat dimmed by not being in center frame, so Liara pulled the binoculars view back. When she did, she saw a third person climbing onto the throne platform. He wore familiar black and red armour, his skin was a yellowish green and he had four eyes, one on top of the other. Liara passed the binoculars over to Wrex so he could get a look to.

"It looks like Kirrahe isn't the only old acquaintance we're meeting again today." She said as Wrex took a look.

"Balak," Wrex snarled, "that slimy batarian asshole. What the hell is he doing here?"

Balak was not an old friend, but an enemy. Two years ago during their original stint on the first Normandy, Balak had orchestrated a terrorist attack on a human colony, Terra Nova. His plan was to use an asteroid that was being delivered there for mining purposes as a way to permanently render the planet uninhabitable and kill everyone on it in the process. Shepard had of course stopped him with their help, but the bastard threatened to kill the hostages he and his men had taken with a bomb he had planted. If Shepard tried to go after him, Balak would've detonated the explosives and killed said hostages. Shepard couldn't allow that, so he let the coward flee while he did what he did best, save lives.

It was the right choice, as far as Liara was concerned, but Balak hadn't taken defeat lying down it seemed. He had made new friends from the looks of it, friends with plasma guns and hover tanks. The batarian walked up to Rekok and the sangheili and into their current discussion. By his side was another Krogan, clad in full Blood Pack armour, although Balak only seemed to just notice him as he came into frame.

"Ah, Trox," Balak said as he looked over his shoulder at the Blood Pack merc. "Good, we're all here more or less, this will make things quicker."

Trox was wearing what looked to crimson red berserker armour, complete with fluorescent tubes attaching his helmet to his hump. The helmet itself was very ornate with a special looking design pattern that more properly outlined the face and eyes that lay behind it.

"I hope you make it quick," Trox told Balak, "my Blood Pack is waiting for me on the front defences. We will hold this prison, whatever Urdnot Wrex sends us."

"You'll be back to the mindless slaughter in good time, Trox." Balak promised. "But first we need to go over some important matters."

"What could be more important than the fact my plans are about to go up in flames if we don't find those interlopers and kill them?" Rekok demanded to know.

"Our deal, Rekok," Balak reminded him, "or have you forgotten why I came to you in the first place?"

Rekok stomped over to his throne and sat in it.

"Ugh, if you must know I've already transferred the striker assault rifles to your ship." Rekok swore as he rubbed his temples. "Our trade is complete."

"And the other weapon?" Balak pressed again. "Do you have it or not? Otherwise I may ask the good Field Master here to take your newly delivered tanks back."

"I will load it onto the ship once these interlopers are dealt with, not before." Rekok declared. "After this, I'm wondering how effective these new alien friends of yours are. It's bad enough they almost look like uglier versions of the turians, but if they can't stop one small squad Urdnot soldiers from coming into our lands with one tank what good are they in a fight?"

The Sangheili Field Master lit up a plasma sword and sneered at the krogan.

"If you truly wish to test my people's resolve than I welcome the challenge."

Balak looked exasperated at both of them and stood between the two.

"Enough, I'm not going to have you squabble like children over this crap." He grunted at them. "Remember, we have bigger designs in store. Rekok gets to expand and we get our weapons, but only if we cooperate."

Balak's words seemed to end the confrontation for the moment and Balak turned to Trox.

"I want you to make preparations for the Blood Pack to leave." He told him. "As soon as Rekok here feels secure we can move back out to our secondary base for further preparations."

"Kreave's orders were that the Blood Pack was not to move until he returned with the Covenant's end of our bargain." Trox snarled. "We still have not recieved our share of the plasma weapons."

Covenant? Was that the name these sangheili and unggoy aliens belonged to? It seemed to fit. Liara kept watching as Balak continued talking, she needed to learn more. The batarian crossed his arms and sighed apparently.

"According to reports from my associate in... elsewhere..." Balak began calmly, "I'm afraid Warlord Kreave... is dead along with his entire expeditionary force."

Trox seemed taken aback by the news, before rushing up and sticking his head into the batarian's face.

"You lie! How could Kreave be dead?" He demanded to know. "He was to capture, Shepard! How could he fail?"

"It would appear your Warlord wasn't up to the task and let him escape." Balak continued to explain. "I'm afraid your dear chapter leader is now lying dead in the ruins of glassed world. He didn't even get to have the honour of being killed by Shepard himself it would seem."

Trox raised his hand to strike the batarian, but Balak was quick to counter him.

"I thought you'd be pleased, Trox." He said in a rather coy tone. "With the chain of command decimated by this, the next person in line to take charge is you. I checked the line of succession myself. You're now the leader of this Blood Pack chapter, doesn't that just make that quad of yours feel big?"

Trox slowly lowered his fist, Balak once again calming the massive krogan.

"I still want those plasma guns." He demanded.

"With Kreave dead, the contract has transferred over to my men." Balak assured him. "When Shepard is dead, by their hand, we'll give you the plasma weapons and you can do what you please. Until then, remember I'm still paying you for this part of the operation, so it's best you do what I say and not listen to the words of a dead man."

Liara lowered the binoculars, both elated and disturbed by the information she had just learned. She turned to Wrex, who had been listening in on the conversation as well.

"Do you know what this means?" She asked him.

"Yeah, that Shepard is still alive and fighting these dumb pyjaks." Wrex chuckled.

"It also means he's a bit too busy right now to do his usual thing of saving the galaxy." Liara reminded him. "Right now, we need to find a way down there and take Balak down before he gets away with whatever Rekok is giving him."

Scanning the room once more, she quickly came up with a plan of attack. As she looked through her binoculars she spotted a number of the sangheili and batarians among the Kercheka krogan. While on alert, they didn't appear to be expecting a fight. They still had surprise on their side. They could catch them off guard.

"I can leave some of my men up here to provide fire support and keep them from getting to those vehicles at the back." Liara suggested to Wrex. "I'll move in with you and your people then while you work your way to the center of the courtyard. Kirrahe will probably be here by then to help us lock the place down further."

"Good, I'll handle Rekok then," Wrex told her, "you worry about Balak."

That sounded good to her. She wasn't about to get involved in a fight between two Clan Leaders. Besides, Balak had to know more about Shepard. She needed to confirm where he was and the batarian was the only one who could do that.

Wrex and his fellow krogan lined up on the side of the catwalk. They were a long way up, but for a krogan this kind of fall was nothing. Wrex motioned Liara over to him as he got in position.

"Grab on and don't let go." He told her.

Liara did as told and wrapped her arm around Wrex's head while he wrapped one around her waist. It was somewhat of a compromising position only made slightly less embarrassing by the fact some of her operatives had opted for a similar position with the other krogan, much to both parties' chagrin. Kayap, surprisingly, joined Liara, scrambling onto Wrex's back like a child wanting a piggyback. Either Wrex didn't mind or he just didn't notice the extra weight. Either way, Kayap was along for the ride.

Wrex was the first to jump down. The air rushed passed them as they fell to the ground below. Liara held on tightly before they slammed into the ground floor. Wrex's knees only bent slightly as he absorbed the impact. Liara let go of her krogan carrier just in time for Wrex to pull out his claymore and fire point blank into a Kercheka guard. With the enemy krogan down, Wrex opened the flood gate for both sides to start shooting.

Liara thought she could hear Rekok shouting in anger to "destroy them all" or something trite and predictable that sounded like it. She had come to expect stuff like that by now. She noticed Kayap scrambling among the tents, trying to stay out of firefight while everyone else rushed past him. Liara just hoped he stayed there and didn't try anything funny. Balak was her priority.

Wrex led the charge, as he always had as long as she had known him. One of the batarians tried to pull back before Wrex overran him, bulldozing him to ground, smacking him in the gut with his head. Wrex left him for the other members of Urdnot to finish him. He had already taken aim at another krogan with his claymore, this time firing an inferno round that set the Kercheka soldier on fire.

Liara for her part moved through the sea of small tents and boxes, making her way over to the open ground as the gunfire raged around her. As one kercheka guard ran from cover with two sangheili behind him, she stuck out her hand and let loose a biotic throw. The attack hurtled the big lizard into the sangheili, it was almost comical but she resisted the urge to laugh. She fired her heavy pistol as she moved forward, taking down a batarian among the crowd as she headed to cover behind a large metal box.

Curiosity got the better of her and she pushed the lid open a crack. She looked inside to see what appeared to be several pink looking weapons with needles sticking out of them. Before she got much of a chance to take a look at them something slammed into the side of the box. She looked over to see Kayap, huddled and afraid near her.

"Give me gun! Give me gun! Need to protect self! Give gun!"

Liara hesitated for a moment. Not so much because she didn't trust Kayap, but because giving him a gun would make him a target. And in the long run, was it really wise to give such a scared little creature a weapon?

"Just find a place to hide and stay there, Kayap." She told him sternly.

"No, no, no!" he shrieked. "Please give gun! Then me hide! Sangheili find me, he kill! Need gun!"

Liara just sighed and quickly reached into the box, shoving the pink weapon into the alien's little grubby hands.

"You remember this, Kayap." Liara told him firmly. "When we get out of this we're going to have a talk about your former friends in detail."

Kayap nodded at a lighting pace and hobbled off to find somewhere to hide probably. Liara just hoped she had made the right decision giving Kayap a gun... however strange that gun looked. Once he was out of sight, Liara vaulted over the box and back into the field of fire. Already it was filling up with a chaotic mix of enemy soldiers and Wrex's people. As per krogan tradition, the combat was up close, personal and brutal. Wrex's men were winning of course, at least against the Kercheka. She could spot more than a few of the sangheili giving them pause with those plasma weapons they carried.

As much as she wanted to help, she had her own people and Balak to worry about. She spotted one of her men pinned down under an overturned table while two batarians kept him pinned from behind another of the gun boxes. They were using those plasma rifles the sangheili were so fond of. Wasting no time, Liara sent a singularity over that trapped the batarians in a biotic vortex. As the tumbled about in the air, Liara let her operative finish them off while she ran over to his cover. The Shadow Net Operative's assault rifle was more than a match for the two helpless batarians.

She slid in beside the merc.

"Thanks, Doc." The human said panting, his voice that of the newbie she had brought with her. "Gotta tell ya, I was not expecting batarians on this trip. What are they doing all the way out here?"

"I'm not sure, but this has gotten a lot bigger than we thought." Liara informed him. "Did you see Balak? The lead Batarian who was with the Kercheka Leader?"

"I think I saw him. He bolted towards the north cell block, ma'am." The newbie explained. "Seemed to be in a hurry too, took that Blood Pack guy with him."

If they weren't staying to help Rekok, then they were probably getting to that weapon he had left for them near their ship. That was something else that bothered Liara. Kirrahe didn't mention anything about a ship. Did it only just arrive or was it hidden from his view somehow? This day was bringing few answers and far more questions.

"Regroup with the others and assist the Urdnot soldiers," she ordered the newbie. "I'll handle Balak."

She heard a primal roar and peeked above to see a charging Kercheka guard coming at them. She used her biotics to push the newbie away and rolled away backwards as the giant lizard careened through the table. She stood up quickly and began to fire on the krogan. The rounds didn't get through his thick armour, but they wouldn't need to. Armour was what warp was for after all. She flung a warp attack at the krogan just as he turned and when he tried to charge again, even as his body was covered in biotic fire, Liara let out another throw attack. This one not only pushed the krogan back but ignited the warp damage. The biotic detonation finished the job the warp had started.

With that krogan down Liara ran up through the fighting once more. She thought she spotted Wrex lifting one of the Kercheka over his head and throwing him into a sangheili who didn't roll fast enough to get away. As another sangheili approached, firing off his plasma weapon, Wrex let his armour absorb the energy bolts and aimed his shotgun square at the alien's head. He fired once and that was all it took to bring both the shields down and take of the sangheili's head.

Wrex could handle himself, she needed to find Balak. Lucky for her he wasn't too far away. She spotted the bastard making a hasty retreat with Trox, the Sangheili Field Master and a complement of each of their respected men. Liara pointed her weapon at the batarian and called out his name.

"Balak!" She bellowed. "Running off again? Why am I not surprised?"

Balak just turned to face the Asari, obviously recognizing the voice.

"Ah, Doctor T'Soni." He said, sounding somewhat pleased at her presence. "It's been awhile. I see you brought the lumbering lizard, I wonder where the Suit-Rat and the disgraced C-Sec officer are though."

"Don't play games, Balak." Liara snarled, gritting her teeth all the while. "You know where the Normandy is, what happened to it and my friends. You're going to tell me or I'm going to put a bullet square through your head."

Balak just laughed uproariously at the threat.

"Please, that little gun of yours won't be enough to pierce my shields at this range. Let alone kill me. Besides, I have all the cards here."

Balak's men pointed their guns at Liara, as did Trox's. Liara remained unshaken.

"I have several krogan and a sniper up top with a crosshair levied at your head." Liara replied confidently. "I say we're even."

The sangheili ignited his plasma sword once more.

"This is a waste of our energy, let me cut this heretic down and be done with her." he demanded.

Balak grabbed his hand and made him lower the sword.

"Don't be ridiculous," Balak scoffed, "Dr. T'Soni means much to Commander Shepard. Not as much as the quarian it would seem though, if the Lieutenant Commander`s intelligence is correct."

Liara gripped tighter on her gun as her eyes became centered on the bastard, trying her best not to show anything to him. Hell, **he** had just told **her** that he had been keeping tabs on Shepard`s team. She wouldn`t be surprised if her predecessor had passed one of his minions some information. Stupid batarian and his stupid big mouth was his own worst enemy.

"If we capture her, given his current position... elsewhere, he'll know he won't be able to help her." The batarian terrorist leader suggested. "He'll surrender to your fellow sangheili on the other side."

"Don't expect me to make it easy for you." Liara warned him.

Balak just looked off to the side, his expression becoming even smugger in its appearance. It was then one of her men contacted her.

"Doc, one got through to the tank! Look out!"

Liara's eyes went just a little wider at that message.

"That's why I have that." Balak said rather proudly.

Liara looked to see one of the hovering tanks powering up. All she had was a pistol and Wrex was busy. So when she saw it getting ready to fire she broke off from Balak and ran. The batarian would have to wait until they dealt with this thing.

The arc of blue plasma crashed down just inches away from where she was standing previously. She leapt to the ground before rolling over on her back and pointing a gun to her front. Balak and his entourage were on the move again and the tank was headed in her direction. If she could get around it, maybe hit it with a warp attack, she could weaken it just a bit or even outright destroy it. It was worth a try, better than lying down and dying.

"Surrender asari," Balak called out, "don't make me work for this. It isn't worth the effort."

As she got up though, she thought she some sort of distortion in the light. Liara watched it move behind the tank, before she heard metallic slice. Popping up on top of the tank was Saya Empa with sword in hand, scraping it against the armoured shell of the tank. He jumped off, landing a few feet away from the tank before pressing down on the hilt once more. The resin the sword had left behind detonated and the tank's backside blew out.

As the hovering hulk of metal crashed back down to earth, blue flames engulfing it, the salarian infiltrator rushed up to Liara.

"Where's Kirrahe?" She asked him.

Saya pointed up high to the opposite end of the cell blocks. Salarians popped their heads up one by one and began firing down into the courtyard below.

"Sorry we're late, Doctor T'Soni." Kirrahe's voice came in over the radio. "It took a bit longer to set the charges on the other tanks around the perimeter. We miss anything?"

"You actually have excellent timing." Liara responded. "Keep as many of the enemy bottled up inside here as you can. I need to get after their leader."

"You know me, T'Soni." Kirrahe replied. "We'll hold the line."

Before she could get after Balak again, however, she and Saya encountered another problem. A high pitched humming sound caught their attention. They looked to see two of the small vehicles Liara had spotted, speeding towards them. They were purple in colour, bulbous and had little wings that stuck out from their sides. They began firing plasma bolts at them, forcing the two split up as the vehicles sped by them. They each had a single driver, a sangheili from the looks of it, who sat in the open. So, unlike tank, at least they weren't nearly as well protected.

Saya rushed to the side while Liara stood her ground. The speedy little hovering vehicle circled back to run her down. She motioned her hand up and let a biotic throw circle around to strike the sangheili in the driver's seat from the side. He was thrown from the vehicle and crashed into a heap as his hovering speeder came to a stop. Liara had to side step away from it as it slid across the ground.

The sangheili stood up again and fired his plasma rifle. Liara ran over to the cover of the downed hover speeder. She loaded a new thermal clip into her pistol and took a breath. This wasn't going to be easy, but at least he wasn't in his little hovering motorbike anymore.

She jumped up and fired three shots into the sangheili as he closed the distance. Two hit, spiking his shields, but he rolled away from the third. These guys were agile in open spaces. She needed to slow him down. So she sent a stasis attack, striking the sangheili head on. He was frozen in place, the perfect opportunity for Liara to close the distance, if only a little, and line up a shot. She got close enough to the sangheili and balled her fist. She punched forward, sending a biotic wave careening into the alien just as the stasis lifted.

The sangheili was flung backwards, and then Liara fired what was left of her pistol's clip into his body before he could recover. Amazingly he was still breathing after all that and lunged at her with open wounds and a sharpened pair of talons. She dodged to the left and sent one more biotic punch into the side of the alien's head. This time the attack snapped the alien's neck, and he was done.

Liara looked to see where Saya had gotten off to. She found him leading the other speeder on a chase away from her. They passed by a krogan taking on two sangheili at once in close quarters with only their fists. Interestingly enough, they were actually holding their own against him from the looks of it. He flung one of the aliens onto the ground and pummelled him before punching the other away from his backside.

About that time, Saya jumped up and onto the vehicle that was chasing him, even as plasma bolts licked at his heels. The salarian infiltrator landed on the hood of the vehicle, gripping at the dashboard, before taking his sword and stabbing it into the alien's mouth before he could react. There was an electrical spark from the sword and the sangheili was shocked to death before Saya leapt off and let the vehicle crash into a group of tents.

Liara resumed her search for Balak and she saw him leaving with his entourage into one of the cell blocks. She ran after him, she could still catch him before he got too far. As she neared, the batarian looked to her and then over to the side.

"Stall her for a bit would you." She thought he heard him say.

Balak disappeared into the shadows of the prison and then Liara heard the clamping of metal. It sounded like extremely heavy footsteps. The shadows of the prison corridor grew greater and then stepping out of the darkened halls was something new and more terrifying.

It towered over even the biggest krogan, had spines on its back and carried what looked like some kind shield in one arm and a huge gun in the other. It was a huge lumbering thing that had no face that she could see, just something that vaguely looked like a head that protruded from the body on a neck. That wasn't the worst part though, the worst part was that behind it was a second alien just like the first one.

"By the Goddess." Liara looked on speechless.

Liara wasn't dumbstruck enough to just stand there, she quickly lunged to the side as the creatures powered up and fired their weapons. They shot out two huge streams of energy that slammed into the ground and exploded like rockets. She got up again and kept her sights on the aliens. How was she going to kill these things?

Luckily for Liara she had back-up. Whether because they now suddenly liked her, Wrex had ordered them, or they just wanted to pick a fight with the biggest thing in the room, the Urdnot krogan rushed the pair of giants.

"Stand back, asari!" Boasted one of them to her as he passed by. "Watch how a krogan handles giant monsters!"

The Urdnot soldier was armed with a gun of some sort. If she had read up on her weapons right, it was a Graal Spike Thrower, used to kill thresher maws. The krogan charged up the weapon and fired, launching spread of flechettes at the monstrous creatures, but it would fail. The beastly aliens just blocked the shot by holding up their giant shields. The flechettes bounced harmlessly off the arm-length safeguard, falling harmlessly to the floor.

The attack did give the other krogan nearby a chance to get close enough to the two aliens. They began striking them with the large bayonet knives on the end of the ends of their rifles. When that failed, they shot at them from point blank range into their back armour, but both attacks only seemed to annoy the aliens. The exercise was proven futile as one of the creatures just batted the krogan away with his shield like he was a mere rubber ball.

The Urdnots reluctantly pulled back, firing all the way. They only stopped to dodge the aliens as they rushed at them, swinging their shields like battering rams. They still kept trying to shoot the aliens in the back, but their weapons couldn't penetrate the thick armour that covered them. All their claymores managed to accomplish was blasting off a few spines from the creatures' backs.

Suddenly, Saya Empa sped past her field of vision towards the beasts. While she knew the salarian was capable, she didn't see what he could do against them. Perhaps he was planning to stick them with the explosive gel and detonate them.

Liara would only be able to speculate, as Saya leapt up, avoiding the strike of one of the creatures, and onto the alien's back. He was about the stab downward, when the second monster came up from behind and swung at the salarian. The infiltrator was forced to flee from his target before his fragile body was broken to pieces by the massive shield that apparently doubled as a club. The second alien instead struck his comrade's back, angering the first slightly as he pushed back against him. They quickly regained focus on their true target though and began firing on Saya Empa as he tried to retreat.

Liara tried to get their attention off them, firing at them with her pistol. She must've scored something, because she thought she saw a speck of orange blood spill out from the neck of one the creatures. The aliens turned and levelled their guns at Liara. But before they could fire, several pink needles collided into one of the alien's arms. It looked at colourful barbs perplexed, before an explosion ignited in a pink cloud. The second alien's arm was intact, but the blow had been made and he pulled back slightly. Liara looked to where the shots had come from and spotted little Kayap among one of the tents aiming that pink weapon she had given him.

To Liara's surprise, the little cowardly creature turned out to be her most unlikely saviour. The beastly aliens turned to fire on him, so Liara decided to return the favour. She threw out another throw, not expecting it to do much against them. Indeed, all it did was force one of the monsters into the other and their shots went wild, striking far and away from Kayap's position. The little Unggoy ran off once more, but the giant aliens didn't pursue. They pulled back to the corridor and when they were far enough down the hall fired their weapons again. The attack closed off the passageway as rocks fell down from the ceiling, sealing it off from the central cellblock.

Balak's orders were just to delay her and they had. He was probably halfway to his ship by now. She had to follow and fast. As she looked for another way out, she heard the weird buzzing again. She turned just in time to see another of the speeders headed for her. She turned to fire on it, but found it was unnecessary. In the next instant, Wrex came barrelling out of nowhere, collided into the side of the vehicle and sent it hurtling into a wall, destroying the vehicle and killing the driver inside.

"Get after Balak!" He told her. "I got this!"

With not even any time to say thanks, Liara ran to one of the nearby cells and to the back wall. She was joined by Saya, coming up from behind.

"I don't suppose you have more of that gel?" she asked him.

The salarian just flicked out his sword and sliced a circle into the wall, leaving behind a trail of resin. They stepped back, Saya pressed hard on the hilt and the wall exploded outward. The two quickly scrambled across the rubble and after Balak.

* * *

Wrex marched past the dead and dying of the Kercheka and sangheili as he approached the throne in the center of the room, his head held high and his claymore at his side. His men would deal with the downed eight foot aliens and the other Kercheka, but Rekok was his. The rival clan leader stood atop his stage, proud as ever, he hadn't even dirtied himself in the fighting, the coward.

"Urdnot Wrex," he said in a derisive tone, "if I knew you were coming I would've prepared a proper welcome."

"Yeah, I've heard that from you and every other idiot who's ever tried to kill me," Wrex growled as he approached. "You have a lot to answer for, Rekok. Attacking Urdnot allies and their caravans was a stupid idea, even for you. That mistake is going to cost you your clan and your life. Was it worth it?"

"Worth it to see Clan Urdnot put in its place once and for all, Wrex." Rekok argued. "It was bad enough when your damn father thought he was capable of heading up the throne, or when Wreav and his bluster were in charge for all those years you were gone, but then you come in with your 'reforms.' You're probably the worst of your whole damn family line for that alone."

Wrex thought he heard one of the Kercheka running up behind him to take him down. He quickly turned half way around to deliver a backhanded punch to the attempted backstabber, knocking him to the ground with ease.

"I'll take that as a compliment, Rekok." Wrex replied, never taking his eyes off the Kercheka leader. "But I'm still going to kill you anyway, so it isn't going to change much."

Rekok just laughed.

"You? Kill me? Please, you've grown soft in your time away." He argued, still chuckling as he did. "Living among aliens has made you weak and use those biotics of yours as a crutch. I can kill you with my bare hands and when I do, Clan Urdnot will be mine and I'll be the dominant clan!"

"I really have to figure what kind of red sand you're taking, Rekok." Wrex said as he got on the stage. "These delusions of yours must be very entertaining. As for a crutch, I don't need biotics to snap your pathetic little neck."

Wrex let his claymore drop to the floor. He then pulled out a knife and flung it into the ground at his feet. If Rekok wanted to do this bare handed, fine, he'd give him his wish. The Kercheka leader just laughed.

"Oh this is going to be good." He said, relishing the fight at hand.

"For me, yeah," Wrex halfway agreed, "not so much for you."

He let Rekok throw the first punch. As he expected he leaned too far in and allowed Wrex to grab it. He pulled back on it, threatening to break it. To his credit, Rekok didn't let out much of a scream and quickly countered by punching him in the face. Wrex let go and was forced to defend from two more rapid punches before he slammed his head into Rekok's face. The Kercheka leader stumbled back, clutching his nose, but again to his credit he didn't cry about it. He charged at Wrex, pushing him to the ground and tried to stamp on his head. Wrex easily grabbed the foot and then delivered a kick to Rekok's quad. Rekok stumbled back in pain, clutching himself tightly.

"That was low, Wrex!" Rekok shouted back in a slightly higher pitched voice.

"Yah, duh, that was kind of the point." Wrex replied as he got back up.

Wrex slammed his fists into the side of Rekok's face, first the left, then the right and finally double blow that sent Rekok into a kneeling position. Rekok went down but he came back up with an uppercut, forcing Wrex backward. He recovered just in time to see Rekok charging again, so Wrex sidestepped, grabbed him by the hump and threw the Kercheka leader into his own throne. The back of it broke clean off as Rekok fell back to the ground in a heap. As he struggled to get to his feet, Wrex grabbed the broken piece of the throne and slammed it down onto Rekok's back, breaking into another dozen pieces. Rekok collapsed back to the floor with bits of rubble surrounding him. With a swift kick to the downed krogan's side, Wrex was upon the now face-up krogan. He grabbed the Kercheka's leader jaw and pulled them open. He could hear the snap of bone as he did.

"Told you this wouldn't be much fun for you." Wrex said grimly as he held Rekok's jaws in his grasp.

Wrex pulled the jaw apart one last time before he twisted the head sideways, snapping Rekok's neck. He stood up over the battered body of the Kercheka leader and looked to room around him. Kerchaka Krogan had stopped mid-fight with Urdnot Krogan to watch and now stood stunned as Wrex stood over their leader triumphant. The whole room was deadly silent.

"Anyone else?" Wrex asked them all.

The Kercheka said nothing for awhile. Then they quickly tucked tail and made a break for the exit, Urdnot soldiers cheering all the while. Wrex just huffed at it at all, so predictable.

* * *

Liara ran through the halls of the prison, making her way towards the nearest exit. She busted out of the door with her shoulder, Saya close behind. They found themselves once again in the wastes of the ruins just outside the prison. As they exited, they saw a pair of what looked to be troop transports, similar in design to the other Covenant vehicles they had encountered. Its bulbous shape floated up into the air and Liara could swear she saw Balak aboard it looking down on her. She fired on it in frustration as the ship's blast doors closed shut. The ship took off towards the sky and then, miraculously, out of nowhere, something appeared.

It was a huge purple spaceship, hovering in the air. It sported two large fins at its back and what appeared to be a massive sloping wide front end for a bow. The little troop transport disappeared into it and the vessel lurched into the skies, heading towards space. Liara and Saya could only look on in awe as the ship once again vanished into the clouds above.

"They have cloaking technology."Liara said aloud, her feet stuck to where she was in shock. "Actual working ship cloaking technology, but that's supposed to be impossible."

She looked to Saya, but he had nothing to add from the looks of it. There was nothing more they could do here anyway. Balak was gone, along with his lieutenants and he had left Liara with more questions than real answers. At least she knew one thing, Shepard was alive and he was out there, just not in this galaxy if Balak's cryptic words aligned with her hypothesis. At the very least, Shepard was not in this version of this galaxy.

"Let's head back to Wrex and Major Kirrahe." She told Saya.

The salarian obliged and followed.

* * *

Liara found Wrex near Rekok's former throne, now in pieces. He was in conversation with Kirrahe. From the sound of it though, it wasn't a very pleasant conversation. Wrex holding up an accusatory finger for one was a dead giveaway for that.

"Kercheka territory and everything in it is now Urdnot's to do with as it pleases." Wrex argued loudly. "It's the law. We won it. You've already apparently destroyed all the tanks, isn't that enough?"

"You keep coming up with excuses to hate me, Wrex," Kirrahe sneered back at him. "I just helped you maintain the balance of power. With Rekok dead you won't have to worry about the Kercheka raiding your allies."

Liara approached the two, trying to get between them.

"Wrex, what's wrong?" She asked him.

"The good Major here apparently was late to the party for a very specific reason." The Urdnot leader began, pointing accusingly at Kirrahe. "He had his team double back to locate and destroy the remaining alien vehicles so we wouldn't get our hands on them. Now he says he's going to take the weapons they gave to the Kercheka as well. They're our plunder, we won them by right."

Kirrahe looked passed Wrex and to T'Soni.

"You must realise, Doctor, my reasons for such an action." He explained. "STG standing orders are to make sure the krogan status quo remains. No clan is to gain a strategic advantage over the other through alien means. By letting Wrex keep these weapons I'm potentially violating that order."

"Did you really destroy all the tanks, Major?" Liara asked in response.

"I had Agent Saya Empa dispatch those on the perimeter, which he did when the fighting started." Kirrahe answered dutifully. "My team did indeed deal with the rest of the vehicles. We had just finished said task with the last of the tanks when Wrex spotted us."

Liara looked over to the only remaining tank that had been left in the room when she left it. It was still up against the wall, but was now a heap of burning metal. At the very least, Kirrahe wasn't trying to hide his motives.

"Wrex is correct regardless." Liara reminded Kirrahe. "The alien weapons are now Urdnot property."

"Damn straight they are." Wrex added boomingly. "We won them fair and square and we will fight to keep them."

Kirrahe just sighed exasperated at the situation as he heard a number of krogan reloading their weapons on Wrex's words.

"I don't want to end this alliance on bad terms, Wrex." Kirrahe admitted. "But I have my orders. I cannot in good conscience let you have these weapons not knowing what you will do with them. It could potentially shift the balance of power further in your favour."

"Urdnot is already the dominant clan, Major." Liara informed him. "Would it really hurt for them to have some of these weapons? It would only be a short term issue. They won't have the supplies to restock the ammo or recharge the guns in general. They don't work like standard weapons."

Kirrahe gave it some thought, looking to Wrex and then to his men. It didn't take him long to process things, salarians never did.

"Well, I suppose I can accept that reasoning. That and I probably won't be able to carry these guns too far away before the other krogan recapture them and we don't have the necessary explosives to destroy them all in such an event. The tanks took their toll, so to speak." He relented, his reason overcoming his stiffness. "However, in exchange, I desire a third of the weapons in this room to bring back to salarian space for study. After all, I helped take this prison. Doesn't Krogan law afford me part of the plunder?"

Liara looked to Wrex to see his answer, he sighed as well at the compromise.

"Well, a salarian that understands Krogan law, impressive." He conceded. "Fine, Kirrahe, you can take some of the guns, but you leave the majority for Clan Urdnot. And you stay out of Urdnot territory to boot. We find you there and you're not leaving. Got it?"

"I can accept that I suppose," The Major said nodding politely. "Glad to see a diplomatic solution could be reached. For a krogan you're surprisingly reasonable."

Wrex only grunted, slightly annoyed, as Kirrahe turned to Liara.

"I'll see about sharing our findings concerning the weapons with you, Doctor." He promised her. "Consider it a favour from a friend. We wouldn't have gotten this far without you and imagine this fight with these aliens isn't over."

"No it's not. I'm afraid that Balak got away in one of their ships." Liara informed him. "This is indeed only the start of things."

Kirrahe looked a bit surprised.

"Balak? The batarian terrorist? Hmm, peculiar development. And he's joined forces with these aliens, eh? Well, that certainly is a problem." Kirrahe surmised. "I wish I could help, but I do have other obligations to STG. Admittedly though, if Balak has any more krogan centric plots it could be a concern for the Salarian Union."

"Perhaps with your own invested interested in this, you could spare one of your men." Liara suggested. "I have space aboard my ship and it would make keeping you updated on the threat at hand a lot easier, and vice versa."

Kirrahe just smiled at the proposition.

"You certainly have picked up a few tricks from your old Commander's silver tongue, T'Soni." He admitted. "I do like that idea."

Kirrahe looked over to Saya Empa and motioned him over to them.

"Agent, I'm assigning you to follow up this new alien threat with the good Doctor." He said commandingly. "You are to keep me informed on the situation at hand and any updates to her investigation. Do you understand?"

Saya Empa only nodded once and stood at attention. That seemed good enough for Kirrahe.

"Good, I'll see to my men and the weapons and then we'll take our leave. It was good to see you again Liara T'Soni," The Major stated politely with a graceful little bow, he then looked over to Wrex once more. "The same goes for you, Urdnot Wrex, whether you believe that or not."

Kirrahe walked away, Wrex giving him a bit of a stink eye as he did. With a sigh he looked away and back to Liara.

"Well, this was certainly an eventful reunion." He told her. "Glad we got to work together again, Liara. Me and the boys had a lot of fun. They really needed to let off some steam."

"I could still use your help, Wrex." Liara told him earnestly. "We may know Shepard is alive, but Balak is still out there and I don't think Wade would want us to stop following him. What if he finds another clan willing to work with him and these Covenant? They're still a danger and we still need to find out what is happening to Shepard."

Wrex just sighed greatly, looking rather despondent.

"Liara, trust me on this, I want to help, really I do." He swore. "But I can't exactly just get up and leave. I still have a Clan to run and keep out of the hands of people like Wreav."

"You did say that your people were looking for a worthy opponent," Liara was quick to remind him, crossing her arms thoughtfully as she did. "Did they find one in these sangheili?"

Wrex looked to the broken bodies lying among the dead on the ground. The battered and blasted forms of several sangheili stained the floor of the prison with their blood. It didn't take long for him to answer after that.

"I suppose they did find quite a bit of enjoyment from all that." Wrex admitted. "Killing worthy enemies and fighting good battles, it's what all krogan yearn for."

"And it would give them a chance to find out more about the galaxy they live in." Liara added. "How else are they going to learn they need to change if they don't experience anything beyond Tuchanka? Think about it, you're so open because you've been out there, seen things. Maybe they just need that to make them realise why what you're doing is important."

Wrex looked next to his fellow Urdnot soldiers. They were conversing, playfully butting their heads against one another, relishing in their victory. Hell, even a few of them were getting on with the Shadow Broker operatives, accepting how well they fought and such. The sight of one Urdnot laughing it up with the Turian merc seemed to be inspiring from what Liara saw in the look in his eyes.

"You may have a point." Wrex agreed. "I suppose I can get someone to take my stead in my leave of absence. Someone even Wreav wouldn't dare challenge."

He finally turned to Liara, a broad smile on his face.

"Alright, T'Soni, you got me on board," Wrex said with a happy grin. "If only because I want to pay Shepard back for being the best friend I ever had and because I can't say no to a pretty face I guess."

Liara tried her best not to look too flattered, but she smiled all the same.

"Just keep the sneaky looking salarian in black away from me and my people as far as possible." He requested.

Saya only nodded, seemingly agreeing with the request.

It was then Liara realised they were missing someone. She looked past her friends and the carnage to spot little Kayap sitting against a box of weapons. She walked over to him, stepping over corpses and such before she sat down next to the methane guzzling alien.

"That was a big risk you took back there." She told him calmly. "Shooting those needles at those monsters, I mean."

"You give me gun." He said simply. "Sangheili leaders never give Kayap gun when mine run out of power. You trust me enough with gun. So, me help when you in danger."

"That must've taken a lot of courage." She admitted. "I honestly didn't expect you to try and fight to be honest."

Kayap just shrugged.

"Me did not think me do it either." He admitted.

For about a minute, Liara tried to figure out what next to say or ask. The name of those monsters? If he knew Balak's plan? What he could tell her about this Covenant he used to belong to? There were so many questions bumping around in her brain, her old archaeologist mindset coming back. Here was an alien from an entirely new species, in fact from an entirely different dimension if she was right. He could tell her so much, if only she could figure out a way to get him to. Perhaps, making him more of a friend than a prisoner was a start.

"So I guess I'm going to have to get you your own room on the _Lucen_." She surmised.

"Me have own room?" said Kayap, sounding rather surprised. "Me never have own room. Leaders stuff us in stinky cramped places with everyone. Can't even go tinkle without others watching."

"Well, I think you earned it." Liara told him. "I mean, you've certainly pulled your weight and more today."

Kayap's eyes watered and he suddenly clutched at her leg, seemingly crying in joy at the gift Liara had just promised him. This day had certainly been one full of memories with old friends, but it had also been one of making new friends. She wondered what Shepard would think of all this? She was recruiting people for a crew to save the galaxy. It really was like old times, like Wrex had said back at the Urdnot Camp. She only wished Shepard was here, so he could share in the moment.

But he wasn't here. He was somewhere, probably fighting more of these aliens like those giants. She couldn't help him, but she could lead by his example as best she could. Whatever Balak was planning, whatever his new friends had in store, she'd find a way to stop it. It's what her friends would've wanted. It was what her Commander would've wanted. And until he returned, she'd pick up the slack. The Galaxy still needed its heroes after all, and right now that meant her, Wrex, a Salarian Infiltrator and one scared out of his mind little turncoat alien.

She pitied anyone who even tried to stand in their way.

* * *

AN: So here's a "what if" scenario for ya. What if Liara had to make her own crew to help save the galaxy? She's certainly in a position to do it. She's the Shadow Broker. She's got mercs at her finger tips, her own ships, definitely all the resources and intel she'll need to find the bad guys she needs to fight. So, why not? Let's see how one of Shepard's crewmates goes about trying to play Shepard. That's pretty much the premise for these chapters.

It was a joy writing Wrex. I can see why they didn't make him a squaddie in two and three to be honest. Wrex is so damn bad-ass the suicide mission would've been WAY too easy. Well, easier than it turned out to be. In three, he'd probably bulldoze over everything... which he kinda does in the Citadel DLC. I'll talk more about that on my profile page if you're wondering, along with other reasons Wrex probably didn't fit as a squaddie in the narrative. More importantly, for now, just know it was a blast to do dialogue for my favourite Krogan merc and I hope you enjoyed reading him as much as I did writing him.

I'll talk about more concerning some of the original characters and ideas I came up with for this chapter in the profile page; right now it's time for our next stop. Since we've given Shepard a lot of screen time already I think it's only fair we give some more chapter space to Liara to make up for how long we've been out of the loop with her. Next stop on Liara's tour will take us to another beloved location from the games and allow me to write another of my favourite Mass effect characters. Which one? Alright, here's your hint: One Rule.

See you then.


	9. Is it Paranoia if its True?

Chapter 8: Is it Paranoia if it's True?

**July 28****th****, 2185 **

_The Lucen_ was a fine frigate. As a former turian vessel it had all the armour and weapons one would need for a stand up fight. More importantly for Liara, it was fast and manoeuvrable enough for their purposes within the Shadow Net Organization, inserting and extracting Shadow Broker agents across the galaxy. Liara had renamed it after the mythical servant of the goddess of Athame in asari religion. Lucen had given, among other things, the gift of biotics to the asari. That knowledge had made her people what they were today, whether or not the myth was true. It would've been more appropriate on an asari vessel admittedly, but the Shadow Broker seemed to own very few of those and they weren't built for her current needs.

It was a pretty decent sized ship, although it had gotten a bit crowded now with the new crew. For one, Wrex had brought two squads worth of krogan aboard. They were a bit rowdy, but at least they had enough spare rooms for them to sleep in. They seemed to get on with the Shadow Net mercs well enough, although it was more out of a mutual respect for each other than a real sense of camaraderie at this point.

As for the more prominent new crewmembers, they were as far apart as they could be aboard the ship. Saya Empa, the STG Agent, had taken up residence in the communication hub on the CIC floor. Liara decided it was okay for him to stay there, as he needed to keep in contact with Kirrahe anyway. She had offered Wrex his own room too, but he decided to take up residence in the armoury downstairs in the shuttle bay. He liked being near the guns according to him. He said it reminded him of the "the old days," as he claimed, when he was leaning next to the personal lockers in the Mako's hanger.

As for Kayap, Liara gave him one of the storage rooms on the engineering deck. He ran around happier than she had ever seen him since they first met each other. He was even delighted at the fact she had moved a small bunk down there to serve as a proper bed. It was weird to see the little alien so pleased by basic commodities. His actions made her wonder how many things that she took for granted had been denied to Kayap.

For her part, she remained in an officer's room on the crew deck where she had a link to the Shadow Broker Network, complete with several holo-screens of varying size on the wall for monitoring all the incoming information. It wasn't pretty looking, but looks didn't matter. Finding links to Balak, and this Covenant he had joined with, was vital if they were to track him down and find out what they were planning. However, finding information about Balak had been a lot harder than she thought. She expected to find some records, pictures, video files, but she had nothing. It seemed there were secrets even to the Shadow Broker.

It wasn't a complete waste of time though. She had uncovered some preliminary information. Other than extranet news articles concerning the Terra Nova incident, she had discovered what Balak had been up to in the past two years since then. He had reportedly been in the Terminus systems hiding out on a few Batarian colonized worlds. There were plenty of sympathetic people there that would hide him.

There was also a manifesto; it surfaced online about a month after the destruction of the first Normandy. It was a statement from "The Swords of Khar'Shan," a batarian terrorist group that spoke about returning their people to their rightful place in the galaxy. The declaration was almost word for word verbatim from what she recalled Balak saying on Terra Nova. Humanity and the Systems Alliance were upstarts, they forced the batarians to attack Elysium, the only solution was violence, etcetera, etcetera. It wasn't exactly very original in terms of political statements. Balak hadn't signed it, but it matched word for word what he had said on Terra Nova.

After the manifesto's publication, The Swords quickly made a name for themselves. They started attacking Alliance colonies and supply routes, then sabotaging shipyards and killing Alliance soldiers on leave. It was all horrible, no doubt, but nothing near the level Balak was working on now. Then again, those were only the attacks that they publicly admitted to. Who knew what else they were involved in. There were other attacks with similar methods and motives that happened in the same areas, but no one had claimed responsibility. She could only assume Balak was responsible for those too. It suggested they were a lot more organized and better equipped than most people thought.

The Hegemony, the batarian state government, denied any affiliation with the group and claimed to denounce their actions. Liara knew better than to believe them, but so did everyone. The Hegemony had been sponsoring terrorist groups for years, along with pirates and slavers of all stripes. The Shadow Net was full of their transactions. They didn't even bother to hide them all that much. They gave them guns, money and set them loose like wild dogs. They ended up conducting unorganized acts of state sponsored terrorism and in good time the lucky ones all faded away. The unlucky ended up getting hunted down by the Alliance to the last man, like during the infamous raid on Torfan. The Alliance had slaughtered a lot of slavers that day.

Except for "The Swords" for some reason, somehow they had managed to survive. Liara had thought they were just better funded, but even the network couldn't tell her if that hypothesis was true. In fact, concerning links to the Hegemony, she could find none between them and "The Swords." It made no sense. Everything pointed to a link to the Hegemony government. They had to be getting these supplies and resources from somewhere. She could find "classified" memos concerning the Hegemony exploiting their attacks for their own gain, but nothing directly connecting them to providing Balak with resources or funding.

None of her contacts inside batarian space could tell her anything it seemed. Apparently, her predecessor had had trouble infiltrating the rogue government for years. It was hard to spy on what was essentially a highly paranoid police state that possessed a stranglehold on its news media, let alone infiltrate the upper echelons of the government. She was apparently lucky to have everything she already did. If there was a connection, she wasn't getting it from Khar'Shan directly. She gave orders to her people on Khar'Shan and within Batarian space in general to double their efforts in breaking government security. Each one told her the same thing: "That's easier said than done."

"No excuses," she ordered all of them in her best attempt at sound fearsome. "Get me an ear in the seats of their government house. Otherwise you're useless to me."

She supposed the identity scrambler technology helped in making her sound a bit more vicious than her usually calm and even tone was. It still didn't feel right to her though, sounding like some kind of crime boss, threatening people, but she had her part to play in this too.

She thought maybe her next best bet was the Blood Pack mercenary, Trox. She had a lot more information on him. He was a krogan biotic, recruited into a Pack chapter by another krogan named "Kreave." The fact he was biotic was interesting to her. She had assumed they didn't place much faith in the power of the mind, preferring brute strength and firepower. Apparently this Kreave didn't possess such a prejudice.

Trox soon garnered a reputation within the Pack. He had been hired by a number of governments and organizations for security, as well as one or two black ops missions. He had helped run slaves and illegal drugs in his tenure, as well as lead raids on a number of eezo mining facilities.

Now his former boss, Kreave, was supposedly dead, leaving Trox in charge of the chapter. That is, if what she had overheard from Balak was true. Why a batarian terrorist group would outsource to the Blood Pack, she wasn't entirely sure. Usually they sought out the Blue Suns, due the large amount of fellow batarians in their ranks. Yes, there were humans, but that was usually overlooked so long as they did the job.

The answer seemed to lie with new aliens, the Covenant as they called themselves. She had had a long talk with Kayap about things. It was still hard to get him to talk about everything in one sitting, but he was more open now. For starters, the sangheili in gold they saw was named "Vorsa 'Jadumai" and he was "always mean to Kayap" according to the little unggoy. She supposed she couldn't expect much else in terms of details from him. Kayap seemed to think in rather simplistic terms.

As for the giant aliens, they were called Mgalekgolos, the walking tanks of the Covenant. He did not know their names, he had never asked. All he knew was "never get close." That seemed like good enough advice given what happened back on Tuchanka. Those plasma cannons they had attached to their arms seemed incredibly dangerous though, so even at a distance they were still going to be a threat. They'd need to start carrying heavier weapons.

As to the Covenant at large she got a lot more information. Kayap explained the history as best he could. Again, he wasn't much for details. As she worked on her terminal, going over the footage of the fight her men had captured with their helmets' onboard cameras, Liara recalled what he said vividly.

"Covenant come to Unggoy long time go." He began. "They make us fight for them. We have to. They kill us if we don't. They take us away from home. Put us in war. Make us fight. Kayap hate fighting. Kayap just want go home, but you try they kill you. Leader Vorsa say we come here, fight war against heretics in new place. Me no understand, but me follow, no choice. They say we doing work of Gods, have to kill infidels, kill humans. Four-eyes hate humans so they join with Covenant. No like Four-Eyes much either, they once use Kayap as kicking ball for fun and throw garbage at him. Me no like them at all."

It was not the most intellectually stimulating conversation, but it told her much. This Covenant, as the name implied, was some alien alliance with a hierarchy system. As suspected, they had a religious motivation of some sort for being here and they had joined with Balak out of a similar hatred of humans. It probably explained why they chose the Blood Pack instead of the Suns. The Pack didn't recruit humans and they would probably be the only merc group they'd be able tolerate given their apparent religiously motivated racism.

Why the Covenant hated humans was something Kayap couldn't explain to her. He just followed and did not question why. To do so would apparently have earned him a beating. That seemed to be standard practice among the Covenant concerning Unggoy. Kayap claimed it was the same treatment they got from all the other species in the religious order. From what she could tell, Kayap and his people were little more than fodder for this war machine of the Covenant.

Kayap's people's position was so low, all of the other Covenant species looked down on them. He even described each species that belonged to the religiously driven coalition of aliens by retelling how they had mistreated him. He had been shot at, kicked, pummelled and even tossed around like a ragdoll. Perhaps she had done him a favour by taking him alive. Whether Kayap saw her as a path to freedom or as a new kinder leader, she couldn't say though.

"Kayap like you." He had said. "You no hurt him as much. And you give me bed. You got food nipple too?"

She didn't know what he ate, but she promised to find him some food, just as soon as she figured out what he could eat. He gave suggestions, they sounded rather distasteful to her. She didn't judge though, there were lots of asari delicacies she loved that a lot of other races found disgusting.

Right now, she needed to find a lead on Balak and his Covenant friends. She had an idea, but it was a bit of a long shot. It was worth a try though. As she was looking into the idea, the door to her office slid open and Wrex walked inside.

"The boys have settled in." He said regarding his krogan obviously. "They don't exactly like the idea of the salarian spy aboard though."

"They'll have to deal with it." Liara explained. "I'd prefer to keep Kirrahe in the loop. If he comes across something we can use, it will be easier to get in touch with him now."

"I'm just wary I guess." Wrex explained. "He hasn't uttered a word since we met. I just get a creepy feeling from him."

Liara had noticed Saya didn't seem to talk. She admitted she wasn't used to that either. Everyone usually had a lot to say in her experience, so it was a bit unnerving. She brought a camera feed of the communications hub where the salarian was currently. He was still in his armour and presently in a sitting position of sorts while facing away from the camera.

"I'm keeping watch on him at least." Liara told Wrex. "I'm sure that eases your mind a bit."

"I guess, more important things to worry about now I suppose." Wrex admitted. "Like Balak and his new alien buddies."

"What about Tuchanka and Clan Urdnot?" She asked him.

Wrex stepped all the way into the office now. Liara turned her chair around to keep her eyes on him as he leaned against one of the walls.

"I put the Shaman incharge as Acting Chief." Wrex explained. "He agrees with what I'm doing and no one will try anything against him. Killing a cultural and religious leader doesn't get you points. And the Female Clan Leader has also stepped up a bit to offer her support in keeping things as they are now. Wreav won't try anything with those two running the show. For now, the notion I'm off to a war seems to be giving Urdnot some confidence I haven't lost my edge."

"And the plasma guns?" Liara asked as a follow-up.

"I gave orders to give them to the females." Wrex answered. "They could use the extra protection and it keeps the majority of the guns isolated in the camp and away from people like Wreav."

That was good to hear. Although, Liara imagined if something did happen, Wrex could easily just walk in and fix it relatively quickly. He was Wrex after all. It was his people on the ship she was more worried about in the long term.

"How are your men with the idea of serving aboard a ship?" She asked.

"I told them it's just a transport to get us to where we need to kill stuff." Wrex explained, slamming his fist into an open palm. "I'm still in charge as far as they're concerned. Although they do have a bit of respect for you staring down a bunch of bad guys with nothing but a pistol. They expect you to lead me to more opponents now, so they're mostly okay with you."

"Well, it may be awhile until I can find them that fight they want." She sighed. "This Covenant is keeping out of the limelight and Balak isn't exactly holding up a sign for us to follow him."

Liara turned back to her screen as Wrex plodded over. He leaned over her shoulder, lightly supporting himself on her chair, and looked to the screen itself.

"No luck at all?" He asked.

"Nothing concrete on Balak as of yet," Liara explained, "he's in the wind. But after giving it some thought I decided our next best chance was that ship he escaped in."

"The one with the actual cloak you mean?" He asked. "How are we going to find something that turns invisible? I don't get the plan."

Liara quickly scanned through her files, bringing them up one by one on the screen.

"Kayap's description of the Covenant suggests they're greater than just one ship." She said as her eyes darted over the scans. "I can only imagine there are more like that vessel we saw on Tuchanka."

"So you think they're here in force then?" Wrex continued for her. "So where are they? Guarding that wormhole you keep mentioning?"

"Most likely," Liara surmised, "if Shepard is 'on the other side' as Balak suggested, they won't want him getting back-up. Or they're lying in wait to ambush him if he comes back. In any case, going there now would be too dangerous and Shepard isn't there anyway."

Wrex hummed under his throat and crossed his arms as he stood up right.

"Well I guess that's one reason we're not racing off there." Wrex admitted. "That still doesn't explain how we're going to find that ship."

"A small flotilla of ships holding around a wormhole are going to need supplies to keep them running." Liara answered. "One reason they probably sought out allies among Balak and the Blood Pack. What I'm saying is there have to be more ships than just that one. Even if they all possess cloaking technology, that vessel we saw still had to de-cloak at some point. Meaning someone out there may have another piece of the puzzle, but they just don't know it yet."

Wrex smirked a bit at Liara's plan.

"You're the greatest information broker alive and you're telling me you need to outsource?" He said, laughing only a bit. "That's kinda embarrassing, isn't it?"

"I can't find anything on these 'Swords of Khar'Shan' that Balak has put together or these Covenant." Liara replied, grimacing at Wrex's little joke. "If we are to find a connection, we need to start looking at other means of gathering it. I've input a search across the entire Extranet for anything referring to the  
Swords, the Pack and Unidentified Flying Objects. I've also input the specifications of the ship we saw into the scanner to see if anyone has caught a detailed glimpse of this thing."

Wrex looked up to the larger screen above Liara. It was filled with rapid fire images and streams of content. He couldn't keep track of it.

"And you can follow that somehow?" he asked her.

"My new job tends to force me to keep an eye on several developing situations at once." She admitted. "It's not that hard actually, I do have help."

It was then, rolling from around a nearby corner, came a little ball VI program.

"Over six hundred thousand relevant sites have been fully searched as of now, Dr. T'Soni." Glyph stated. "We have not located anything of value."

She had finally got him to stop calling her Shadow Broker. That was certainly helpful.

"How long is this going to take exactly?" Wrex asked her, unconvinced of the plan.

"It is a long shot, I know, but if it doesn't pan out I'm going to see about digging deeper into the Hegemony systems." Liara assured him with a convicted look in her eyes. "I just know they have a connection to the Swords and Balak himself. I will find it eventually. Nothing stays secret for-"

Her feeds suddenly stopped and a flashing green light buzzed up on her board. Glyph was quick to inform them both of the development.

"It appears we have located something of interest." The VI declared.

Liara quickly pressed at the flashing green button and brought up a single image. It was blurry and dark, but the distinct outline of a ship could be seen. She quickly ran a comparison to the Tuchanka vessel and saw that they did indeed closely resemble each other. She could see the distinctive fins at the back and the broad front of the ship, if only barely.

"An eighty-seven percent match." She observed aloud, reading out the information on screen. "Let's see where it's from."

Tracing the image with but a button press, she found the link led to an online blog of some sort. It was entitled, "Free Truth Daily." Skimming it quickly she saw it was a very amateurish little conspiracy extranet site that was open for anyone to post on about anything they wanted. No oversight, no verification, a total free-for-all for outlandish ideas and theories. Because of this policy the site was a jumbled mess of images and rants. No wonder it took so long to find, this place was loaded with dead ends and people making outlandish claims. Wrex himself couldn't help but scoff at some of the stuff.

"Heh ridiculous, 'Rachni-Asari Hybrids being grown by Thessian Government', how stupid can you be? If they only knew half of what we knew, eh Liara?"

Wrex may have had a point, but there was no denying that the picture they found was of that ship that they saw on Tuchanaka. It had also been posted recently, one day before her ship was attacked to be precise. The image was probably of the very same ship she saw taking off, possibly heading out to raid that salarian research lab Kirrahe had told her about and definitely before the raiding party was sent to Hagalaz. That still left the question of who took the picture unanswered.

Liara looked at the poster, simply labelled "3DomLives!" and apparently he was the fifth most active poster on the site from what she could gather. Looking over his posts, Liara found that he had made a lot angry declarations against the Batarian Hegemony, among others. There were far too many to properly sift through, but the picture that brought her here was the most important piece of evidence for the moment.

The description said it was taken over Tuchanka using a CDEM satellite. How he had gotten the image, he did not say. Only that he claimed it was an experimental Hegemony ship that was on a secret mission to stir up the krogan or something. It was a rather blabbering post. She did admit though that it matched a bit of the information she had, although highly distorted through the poster's uninformed perspective. It didn't take long to find where the post had originated from. A simple trace led her to the Terminus systems, specifically one system in particular.

Wrex seemed to grin at the prospect of their destination.

"Well, that sounds like a fun day." He said rather excitedly.

"Indeed," Liara added, less enthusiastically, "I'll tell the bridge to set course then."

She let the image of the giant red glowing space station lodged in its asteroid hover over them for a while longer before closing the window. Omega awaited them.

* * *

**July 29****th****, 2185**

Omega was not a place you wanted to live in, not if you had a choice. It was full of pirates, slavers and the general denizens of the criminal element. There were good people there, innocent people just trying to squeak out a living and get by, but the corruption outweighed anything else. What had once been an asteroid mining station now shined bright red in the void, a beacon to outlaws from across the Terminus. This was the land of the lawless and pretty much everyone wanted to keep it that way.

Liara remembered the last time she was here, just a few weeks after the destruction of the first Normandy. She had lost a friend and in a way lost herself. She was angry, inconsolable and determined to find a way to make it right. Cerberus asked her to find Shepard's body and she did so, hoping somehow they'd do as promised and bring him back. And they did indeed do just that. For all his flaws, the Illusive Man had remained true to the deal she set up with him. She was just grateful that Shepard didn't hate her for it when he returned to the land of the living.

Now, she had lost her Commander again and while he was not dead this time, it appeared that Omega was once again the key to helping him. She dreaded the return there nonetheless. It wasn't because of the criminals that stalked the halls, she wasn't afraid of them, not after all she had been through. No, it was because last time she had been here, she had crossed paths with someone. She had been quick to tell Liara not to come back. She hadn't done anything to upset her, but she had mentioned something that spooked even her. Not something that was easy to do to Aria T'Loak.

Aria was a powerful asari, far older than Liara and twice as powerful in both position and skill. Her biotics were strong enough to devastate a krogan and accurate enough to crush his internal organs without killing him or setting off his blood rage. That was how she took over Omega, starting out from nothing so many years ago to the literal "Queen of Outlaws" today.

Liara did not relish the idea of going back to her domain or meeting with her again, as she knew she would have to. They already had to inform a docking bay that they wished to land and Aria no doubt was aware of their coming. As the station grew bigger upon their approach, its red eerie glow beckoning her closer, she took a deep breath and eased her mind.

She decided to leave Kayap on board the ship. He wasn't going to be much help here and he had had enough excitement to last him awhile. Besides, she wouldn't be able to fool anyone by saying that he was a baby elcor, not here. She had asked Wrex and Saya to come instead. Wrex was quick to jump at the chance to go to the station as he had visited it a few times in his mercenary days and felt like seeing how much things had changed. She thought Saya had agreed to join her, she wasn't sure. He still wasn't talking and Liara was starting to wonder if he even could at this point.

She was already ready, her pistol and submachine gun at her side, when Wrex joined her near the airlock. He had his claymore in hand as usual. He cracked his neck once or twice, jerking his head from side to side.

"This is going to be an interesting trip," he remarked, "maybe we'll even get into a fight with some dumbass half-drunk turian if we're lucky. There were tons on this station last I was here."

"I'm hoping to avoid that," Liara informed with an aura of seriousness. "I just want to find this '3DomLives!' person and get as far away from this station as possible."

"Party pooper." Wrex joked. "Relax, I'll protect ya. No one is going to mess with Urdnot Wrex. I have too much of a reputation here. Most of it involving cracked skulls... and maybe one or two gunfights in the lower levels."

Liara appreciated Wrex's attempt to ease her mind, but really there was nothing he could do. Omega brought up a lot of bad memories, not just Aria. Her first visit eventually led her down a dark road she had only just gotten out of. Omega in general just brought out the worst in people, eating them alive. She honestly wondered if she could handle it.

Saya Empa arrived moments later, armed with a Viper sniper rifle, a Tempest submachine gun and his sword. He didn't say anything, but just looked to Wrex once before turning to Liara.

"Hello again to you too then." Wrex greeted grumbling with sarcasm. "Care to share your thoughts on Omega? Maybe tell us why it's vastly different from your own culture? We kinda did it all the time back in the day, right Liara?"

Again, Saya Empa said nothing. He instead kept looking at Liara and pointed to the airlock. Liara could only assume he was asking if it was time to go.

"I suppose we should get aboard." Liara agreed. "Aria probably has someone already waiting for us on the docks."

As the airlock opened, Wrex turned to Saya once more in growled.

"You are the first salarian I've met who has annoyed me by staying mute and not by being a blabbermouth." He told the black armoured STG Agent. "That is a rare accomplishment. I just want you to know that."

* * *

As expected, waiting for them in the docking area were three armed guards, two turians and one angry looking batarian. All heavily armed and none too pleased to see Liara back on their station. It was nerve racking to say the least, but Liara wasn't that nervous. She had Wrex backing her up for one. Together, they could easily handle these guys if things turned sour. Thankfully, they didn't seem like they were looking for a fight, just trying to portray a show of force.

"Aria told you not to come back, T'Soni." The batarian growled. "Mind explaining why?"

"Business," she replied thusly. "I'm looking for someone."

"Well don't explain it to me. I'm just here to point you to Aria. See her, do not make us find and take you to her."

The batarian left with the turians, although Liara imagined they hadn't gone far. They'd be watching, closely. It was best that they saw Aria as soon as possible. Otherwise, the next time they saw those three would not end so well.

"Just as friendly as last time I was here." Wrex observed as they walked down the corridor of the dry dock.

"Same," Liara agreed, "it's nice to know there are some constants in this Galaxy."

Entering into the station at large revealed it as the sprawling brown and red drab colour soaked hellhole this place was. Air-cars sped across the skyline that stretched for miles outward. Towering pillars spanned the breath of the station, housing hundreds if not thousands of people inside. This was not like the majesty of the Citadel, it was an open wound, cold and sour with all the harsh and bitter realities laid bare.

Everything was muted, darker, nothing stood out, the colours of the station mixed together like some sort of glorified garbage dump. A fitting analogy for a place where the refuse of the galaxy came to plot, scheme, and perhaps even disappear forever if they wanted. And at the center of this pit of scum was the hive all the cutthroats and villains could congregate in, Afterlife.

Afterlife was, from all outward appearances, a seedy exotic nightclub. The image of a dancing half naked asari in silhouette on the front view screen was just its cover though. Aria resided within, ruling over the entire station as the boss, the lord, the master, the queen, whatever you wanted to call her. Liara had every reason to be nervous about seeing the leader of Omega again, and for the most part she was. But she wasn't the little asari taking on the biggest fish in the underworld pond this time. Aria was still the shark that could eat her alive, but Liara knew how to keep a shark at bay now.

As they approached the front door to the glittering nightclub, the elcor bouncer moved in front of them, plodding on all fours. For a species that could show no real emotion in their faces, not like most other species did, he looked pretty damn surly. Maybe that was just what Omega did to you.

"Assertively: You must get in line like the others." He said in a monotone bland voice. "No exceptions."

"Aria is expecting us." Liara explained.

"With unconvinced ire: You and every other person in said line."

Liara looked to said line and saw that it stretched for a good while. She had no desire to stay stuck on this station for that long.

"Call up Aria herself and inform her Liara T'Soni is here at her request." She replied authoritatively.

The elcor turned slightly away and mumbled something in a lower voice. His head looked back slowly to Liara when he was done.

"Apologetically: Welcome, Doctor T'Soni, please come in." He said plainly. "With sarcastically tinged relief: I am happy I am not you right now."

If that was his attempt to scare her it wasn't working, she, Wrex and Saya passed him by and kept walking. As the doors opened wide to let them inside they could hear one of the patrons complain as they did.

"I've been waiting here for hours! You just let three people in there! I thought it was full up!" he shouted.

"With barely contained resentment: Be thankful. They're not going to have much fun. Also you're not on the list. So you don't get in, plain and simple. Threateningly: Now do you want to go to the back of the line or do you not want to waste another few hours of your existence?"

Whatever the outcome of the conversation would be was lost to Liara as the doors shut closed. They were again forced to walk down a hallway, lined with animated fire graphics, to the main hub of the nightclub itself. Entering it, they found a lively scene. Holoscreens everywhere, asari strippers on a stage over the central bar and on tables for patrons, several little corners you could get drunk, at least three designated dance floors and a musical track that boomed excess and chaos with every chord. Omega distilled into a single building; that was what Afterlife ultimately was.

Passing by the seedy patrons, Liara and the group approached the stairs at the back of the club that would lead up to Aria's little overlook, the place where she watched over her kingdom of crime. It wasn't nearly as intimidating as it had last been, that was at least what Liara told herself.

"We can go up with you if you want." Wrex informed her.

"No," Liara insisted, "bringing you up may seem a bit threatening. After all, you both are pretty intimidating."

Wrex chuckled a little.

"I know I am, but I wouldn't call him that." Wrex replied, pointing to Saya.

The Salarian gave the krogan a look and although Liara couldn't see it, she had a sense it wasn't a pleasant one. This was another reason not to bring them up. Aria would probably sense the confrontation in them. It had nothing to do with asari prowess, Liara just knew how smart she was, how in tuned she was. It was best not to give her a sign of weakness. Ultimately, however, it was a personal reason for her to keep them down here. She wanted to prove, to herself and Aria, that she could hold her own.

"Just trust me on this, Wrex." She told the krogan. "If I need you, I'll call."

Wrex just shrugged and nodded.

"Don't let'em see ya sweat, Liara." He encouraged her. "Remember, I'm here if you need me. And I guess so is he."

Wrex pointed at Saya, who turned away from Wrex gripping his fists tightly together. Hopefully they wouldn't come to fisticuffs while she was up there with T'Loak.

She ascended the staircase cautiously, doing her best not look weak towards the bodyguards. She eventually arrived at the top, the nightclub floor sprawled out before her. Just across the way was a dark purple skinned asari, her back turned, her white high collar suit with her syndicate's symbol on it staring back at her. Her arms were crossed behind her back as she looked out onto the floor.

"Two years ago I threw you out and now you come back." She began. "Do you have a death wish, T'Soni? Cause if that is the case I can help you achieve it."

"I have no quarrel with you, Aria." Liara assured her. "And, for what it's worth, you threw me out because of my involvement in fighting an enemy even you didn't want to stir up. They're dead now, there's no reason to worry about that coming up again."

Aria turned, her gaze meeting Liara with a rather menacingly glare.

"I don't worry, Doctor." She assured her coldly. "The only concern I had was you forcing a conflict on my station which I would have had to clean up. I like things ordered on Omega, my order. You wouldn't have returned here if you had no intentions of stirring up trouble. No associate of Commander Shepard would come here otherwise. You people tend to make things explode in your wake from my experience. I don't need that now, thanks."

Aria's curt attitude towards her had been expected, but Liara was not budged.

"Shepard is why I'm here." Liara informed her. "He's in trouble and I need to help him."

Aria's glare turned to a sinister smile as she laughed under her breath.

"That's why you're here?" She asked, restating matters for her own amusement. "Why does this feel like a case of Deja Vu all of a sudden?"

Keeping her unimpressed look she approached Liara, her hands still behind her back.

"Explain to me why this is my problem again?" She asked.

"Shepard helped you." Liara reminded her as she looked dead in the crime lord's eyes. "If it weren't for him you'd have a coalition of mercenaries trying to take you down, a dead advisor and a bartender serving poisoned drinks to customers right now."

"That debt has been paid, T'Soni." Aria replied unconvinced. "I don't owe the Commander anything. Nor do I owe you anything. So explain to me one good reason I shouldn't call Anto to kick you off my station all over again. And this time, I won't give you ample time to leave. I'll just make you."

Liara kept a stiff upper lip. Like Wrex said, she thought, don't let her see you sweat. Aria was the Queen of Omega, but Liara was the Shadow Broker and she would not be scared off by threats. Not this time.

"You must've noticed my associates downstairs." Liara said, calling attention to Wrex and Saya once more. "If you try something now, this nightclub is going to have to close early I'm afraid."

Aria turned to look down on her club once more, noticing the two at the nearby central bar.

"Hmm, a krogan... and a salarian," she observed, "an odd combination indeed."

Aria turned to Liara once more, that sly little smile still on her face.

"Trying to emulate the good Commander, T'Soni?" she asked. "Keeping diverse company, I mean."

"If you just give me what I want, Aria, I'll be gone from here within the day." She promised, ignoring the question entirely. "You won't have to lift a finger and, with any luck, you'll never see me again."

Aria walked over to circle around Liara, sizing her up more. Liara kept her shoulders straight and eyes forward, she refused to flinch.

"Still trying to play the big girl game, aren't we?" She taunted in a whisper. "You don't have leverage here, child. You're barely out of your Maiden stage as it were. You may have this krogan and your salarian, but I still don't see why I should help."

"I just want information." Liara reiterated, staring straight ahead. "You're just wasting time right now."

"Yes, because I'm taking a moment out of my busy schedule to deal with this formality of a meeting." Aria explained. "You want information, good for you, but what do I get in return? How does helping you help me besides making you leave sooner?"

Now it was Liara's turn to smile slightly. She pulled out a data module from one of her pockets and held it up for Aria to see. The crime lord stopped circling and gave the device a curious look.

"This storage module holds everything on a certain asari criminal mastermind that I possess." She explained to the Omega ruler. "Admittedly, it isn't much. You managed to remove anyone who could spill your secrets long ago. However, what it contains is most damning. A name for one, a real one, as well as the identity of another child, just like me. One who has a rather estranged relationship with her mother, just like I had at one time. It was good reading material you could say. I really related to the principle character."

Aria's eyes turned to a calm quiet sort of rage as she stared at Liara with growing incense. She raised her hand to pluck the device from Liara's hand, but she pulled it back.

"I give it to you, when you help me." Liara assured. "Everything else I have is deleted except for this. If you want it, then you give me what I want."

Aria kept her angry look for awhile, but soon softened and gave a slight laugh and an amused little smile.

"Well played, T'Soni." She admitted. "I misjudged you. You're not much of a child anymore."

She turned and sat down on her lavish posh couch, crossing a leg over the other as Liara remained standing.

"So, what do you want to know?" she asked.

"Someone posted an image of an alien ship I encountered from this station." She began to explain. "His username is '3DomLives!' and he may be able to lead me to the ship itself. I doubt anyone is able to post on the extranet from here without you knowing about it. After that near fiasco with the merc gangs you've no doubt tightened your security. So, I imagine you'd know who he is."

Aria stayed silent for a moment, thinking to herself before she sighed and put her head back. Then, at last, came a name.

"Vik'Sajee." She blurted out in annoyance. "Fuck."

That sounded distinctly quarian in origin. What was a quarian doing on Omega of all places? This station was worse than the Citadel for his people. They hated quarians out in the Terminus, barely even tolerated them. He couldn't be a slave. Slaves didn't get extranet access from what she knew. So he had to be either stuck here or here voluntarily.

"Who is he?" Liara asked.

"He's a jumpy little quarian dumbass who is apparently causing me no end of trouble, for starters." Aria exclaimed exasperated. "He shows up out of the blue from nowhere a week or two ago and in the first few days he's docked he gets into a fight in my own club somehow. How he got in I don't know. The next thing I do know is that he's flying off the handle on a group of batarians, calling them slavers, murderers, some other crazy bullshit, grabs one of the batarians' damn shotguns off his back and near starts a gun battle on my own dance floor."

"What did you do?" Liara asked.

Aria leaned forward, placing her arms against her legs as support, her brow heavy with agitation.

"I stepped in, removed his gun and kicked him out of my club." She replied.

"That's a surprising amount of restraint for you." Liara noted.

"Please, the man was obviously disturbed mentally. I didn't kill him because he wasn't a threat to me." Aria elaborated with a bit of venom in her irate voice. "He crawled around on the floor after I hit him and kept weeping about how 'he couldn't go back' or something. Now, I can tolerate a few gun shots in public, but I can't have an unstable lunatic pulling weapons on my patrons, even if they probably do deserve it. But I'll admit, I kinda felt sorry for the little bucket, he obviously just needed help, and a good shrink. I couldn't provide that, but I could keep him away from Afterlife. So I set him up in a little apartment in the lower levels. That way he's far away from my club where he can ramble on about whatever crap that's floating around in that little addled brain of his while being safely away from my alcohol, my customers and my dance floor."

It was still surprisingly generous of her. Liara half expected to learn she at least broke an arm or something. More than likely she didn't want to waste energy on killing someone that was so beneath her.

"Where can I find him?" She asked.

"If you really want to suffer his delusions then that's your poison, and far be it from me to stop you from indulging it." Aria exclaimed as she was handed a data pad by one of her associates. She tossed it onto the table in front of Liara. "His address, with any luck you'll take his ass far away from here and back to his fleet."

Liara took the datapad in hand off the table.

"I didn't realise you disliked quarians so much." She commented as she looked it over.

"I'm fine with quarians. They're a very tenacious and intelligent people, I knew some before they lost their home world. It is crazy people I hate." Aria explained succinctly. "Well, unless they're Mordin Solus I guess. That crazy I can respect. Now then, you got what you need, what about your part of our deal?"

Liara pulled out the storage device again and tossed it to Aria, who caught it with relative ease in an open palm, without even blinking.

"I want you off this station with little incident." Aria warned. "And if you try to blackmail me again to prolong your stay, you'll find I won't be very accommodating."

Liara just nodded and began to make her exit, when Aria got her attention once more.

"I am impressed though." She called out. "That was almost like something Shepard would've done in your position. Maybe you do have what it takes to play with the big girls."

"We'll see." Liara answered as she descended back down.

* * *

The apartment that Aria had sent Vik'Sajee off to appeared to be less than ideal as a living space on the outside, even for Omega. This area of the station had been largely neglected, with garbage covering the halls and streets, burnt out lights every few feet and more than a few bullet holes in the walls alongside the graffiti. Liara had to wonder if Aria had just stuck the quarian down here in the hopes he'd probably die and she wouldn't have to worry about him anymore. It wasn't a far-fetched notion since that would be the easiest answer to her problem.

Regardless, Liara was a bit concerned about meeting this quarian. If he was so quick to pull a gun on a batarian just because he thought he was a slaver, how easy would it be to set him off against her? And why was he on Omega of all places if he hated slavers? This place was crawling with them. There were a few possibilities, he could be an exile from the fleet, and thus a criminal himself, or he was just a pilgrim stuck on this station because he had no money left. Both answers raised up concerns in her mind, which Wrex of course voiced for her.

"How do we know this quarian even knows anything about this ship and what's going on?" He asked her. "For all we know, he just lucked out and caught a picture of the thing and nothing else."

"He claims that it was taken over Tuchanka on a CDEM satellite, remember?" Liara reminded her krogan friend. "I want to at least know how he accomplished that. If he doesn't know anything, maybe he can lead us to the person who gave him that picture in the first place."

"Oh great, the run around," Wrex grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Yeah I remember this part of the adventure. He's probably gonna demand we do something for him first and we got to go to another planet and drive around for a few hours chasing some god damn pyjaks for a stupid module or some crap."

She had hated those missions herself, especially when the Geth or a bunch of crazy mercenaries suddenly became involved. Tali had said it best once on Feros to Shepard, "What is it about you that makes people think we enjoy being in harm's way?" With any luck that wouldn't be the case here.

Before they knocked, Liara turned to Saya.

"Keep an eye on things from the shadows outside." She told him. "This neighbourhood isn't the best and I don't want to intimidate Mr. Sajee more than we need."

"Yeah, one krogan is more than enough to freak a little jumpy quarian out." Wrex concurred before looking at Saya. "Better not throw in the sword wielding salarian secret agent. He wouldn't be one for conversation anyway, right Mr. Quiet One?"

Saya didn't seem to appreciate Wrex's little jovial comment, but followed Liara's request anyway. He activated his cloak and disappeared. Moments later, Wrex seemed to jump forward a bit, as if someone had shoved him. He growled seemingly at nothing, but he knew who had done it.

"He is working my last nerve." Wrex grumbled.

"I'll have a talk with him." Liara assured. "Till then, try not to antagonize him more."

"Good luck getting him to talk back," Wrex replied grumbling. "Alright, if you think I should lay off him I'll try. But only because you asked."

She could accept that. Carefully she tapped on the door to the apartment, waiting for a response. It was only a few seconds before she got one, almost as if the person on the other side had simply been waiting for them to knock. The apartment's shutter opened suddenly and revealed a pair of silver eyes behind a bright blue visor.

"Who are you? Who are you working for?" The eyes demanded to know in a frantic pace. "You're with the vorcha outside the clinic who looks at me funny aren't you? Aren't you?! He works for the Corpies, I knew it!"

Liara tried her best not to look too taken aback by the random comment. She expected as much of a greeting from what Aria had said. In fact, she had expected a bit worse. He wasn't pointing a gun at her. She tried to calm the quarian as best she could.

"Am I speaking to Vik'Sajee?" She asked carefully. "Alias, '3DomLives' if I'm not mistaken?"

"Who told you my name?" He demanded once more accusingly. "Did you hack my e-mail account? Steal a blood sample and run an ID test? You want my blood, is that it? Well you can't have it! I still need it! You're not putting a chip in me! I know how it works!"

"I don't want to put a chip in you." Liara assured him. "I'm Doctor Liara T'Soni, I came to talk. You recently put up a post on the extranet? Of a ship in shadow over Tuchanka?"

Vik's eyes went back and forth, peering to the sides of the street and behind Liara to see Wrex.

"I post many pictures on the extranet." He said hesitantly. "I, uh, don't know what you're talking about. Go away."

"I just want to talk to you about the ship." She explained, keeping her calm collected voice as soft as possible. "It's important, Mr. Sajee. People's lives may depend on what you might know."

"What I know? I know the truth." The quarian rambled. "I know what they keep behind that little veil of secrets of theirs, I know it. They can't stop truth, not forever. Truth will come out. Truth sets us free. Sets us all free. Can't go back. Won't go back! You won't make me go back!"

Vik tried to close the shutter, but Liara got her hand in it and pulled it back before he could. He didn't fight to close it again, but stepped back from door.

"I'm not your enemy. I want to know the truth too." She assured him. "Maybe we can even help each other. Help everyone else see it."

Vik still looked nervous, but as Liara stared into him his paranoia faded if only a little. He sighed greatly.

"I want to help. I need to help. Need to go home. Need to help. Can't run. Must not run. Never run again." He mumbled to himself. Eventually he turned his eyes back to Liara. "Alright, you can come in."

Liara let go of the shutter and Vik closed it. The next few seconds were preoccupied with the sound of several electronic locks opening up on the door. It took a while, but it eventually slid open, revealing the quarian as he slowly backed away.

"Just, come in, we can talk then." He said, nervously scratching his neck and his arm.

Vik's apartment looked almost as bad on the outside and that appeared to be both his fault along with the decor. There were a lot of what looked to be empty pill canisters scattered across the apartment. There were also discarded nutripaste tubes and empty bottles of what Liara assumed was water littering the floor and furniture as well, but they weren't the most plentiful bits of refuse lying around.

There were datapads and papers scattered all over the place, more of the former than the latter though. They were on the table in the small den, the kitchen counter in the corner, all over the bed and around it. There was even a makeshift study at the center of the room covered with them. To think, the datapad was made to avoid this kind of mess. The quarian no doubt had been taking a lot of notes for whatever he was working on.

And he was indeed working on something. On the side of the wall, surrounded by cluttered desks and shelves, was a magnet based bulletin board. That was very low tech, especially for a quarian. It was covered with pictures of places, people and events, alongside news articles, printed out extranet ads and movie posters. All of them connected by black lines drawn on the board proper.

One of the stand-out items Liara saw was a turian dollar bill, not a credit chit, old paper money. It was probably just a replica though, those things were antiques and Liara couldn't see Vik possessing enough money to buy one. Upon closer inspection she even thought she saw creases in the dollar bill, like it had been folded in several different ways. She had heard about this, the old turian paper money was said to hide a lot of strange little secrets in it, like prophecies of galactic events and symbols of secret organizations.

That and everything else told her everything she needed to know about how this was probably going to go. She would need to tread carefully around the quarian. He was easily agitated from what she saw at the door and his apartment's messy appearance matched his own.

Vik wore a dark green envirosuit with a shade of brown along the legs and arms. His hood, which was a bit too big for his helmet, was coloured dark orange and peaked over the top of his bright blue visor towards a little point while covering the entire back of his head. The pattern on the hood was a stream of wavy lines that cascaded down the length of the hood towards the back. His helmet was also dark green, matching his suit in general.

The suit was a far cry from Tali's vibrant purples and stylish swirls in her hood. It certainly wasn't the most fashionable ensemble. More importantly, it looked like it had a little custom work done to it, probably as repairs for one reason or another. There were bits of metal tubing, extra pouches around the waist and what appeared to be a little shoulder strap that had a few extra thermal clips lodged in as spare ammo. He probably had a gun around here somewhere. Liara would have to watch out for that, just to be safe. Not because she was afraid of getting killed, on the contrary. She was more afraid that Vik would get killed by Wrex if he tried pulling a gun.

For now, Vik appeared more interested in his giant board, looping thread around the magnets that held items on the board, connecting articles and pictures to each other. All the while, he mumbled more to himself. It was unsettling, but Liara carefully approached the problematic quarian. Wrex was close behind. Almost sensing that he was keeping his hand on his pistol, Liara waved him down subtly. They were just here to talk. There was no need to think Vik was going to attack them. All she needed to do was engage him firmly but nicely, within reason of course. It had worked at the door after all.

"Little niphler rats outside noodle shack, infestation growing, obviously part of implanted remote control organic spy network." Vik mumbled incoherently. "Probably sent by Binary Helix to spy on Aria... or me. More likely me."

"Mr. Sajee," Liara spoke up, trying to get his attention.

"Backing of ExoGeni helped the Alliance Military Industrial Complex get rights to the water supply on almost every human colony in Citadel Space." He continued. "Why? Follow the Eezo, cause they're pumping it in! Five richest people in the galaxy control who gets more though, so in the end they're all just puppets anyway."

Had he forgotten she was even here? Liara looked back to Wrex, who was already twirling a single claw against the side of his head. She shook her head at him, only for the krogan to shrug as if to ask 'What? It's true.' She tried again.

"Sajee," she said stepping closer.

"Those fascists in the Hierarchy sold their souls for those shifty looking cows." He randomly spat out. "Genetically engineered by the Suits for them, perfect spies, smarter than they look. But who cares? No one it seems, because no one asks the question. Just ordinary cows they say, no biggy. Just wait until their regular milk gets replaced with shifty milk."

Okay, he really had forgotten she was here. He was engrossed in his board, fixing it, adding to it with his twitchy little fingers and random nonsense. She didn't exist it seemed. She needed to snap him out of it.

"And the Asari Huntress swoops in and kills all the smugglers, drug trade finished, but who does the huntress work for?" Vik asked to no one but himself. "Who makes the drugs? Why am I the only one who sees this?"

"Vik!" Liara barked at him.

The rambling little quarian jumped up and spun around, slamming his back into his board. He was hyperventilating, staring at Liara with his silver glowing eyes wide open. When the asari stepped back slightly, Vik clasped his hands to the side of his head.

"Don't do that!" He shouted back. "I... I was working, I need to focus. Need to think!"

"I apologise for scaring you," she replied politely, "but I think your board can wait a few minutes. I was only trying to get your attention again."

Vik sighed and stumbled over to one of his desks, propping himself up on one of them with one hand and looking at Liara.

"I'm... I'm sorry." He eventually said. "I'm not feeling well. I haven't been sleeping much lately. I can't sleep, I get nightmares. And they steal your thoughts in your sleep through brainwave scanners."

"Quick tip, quarian," Wrex interjected, "you need a doctor. You ain't well."

"I saw one, I got a prescription." He replied frenetically. "I Haven't been taking them, it gulls me. I can't think as much. Don't like them."

Liara picked up one of the pill canisters she had spotted before. From what she could determine it was some kind of depressant that worked as a calming agent on the mind. In Vik's case, it more than likely dulled his paranoid tendencies, along with other functions as a side effect. She doubted Vik would give her specifics in his current state, but she hoped he could remain focused enough on her questions to answer them for now. Perhaps engaging him in his interests would help ease his mind slightly and build some much needed trust. She looked to the board.

"What exactly is all this, Vik?" She asked, honestly wanting to hear what the story behind this all was, no matter how insane it ended up being.

Vik looked back, his demeanour calmed and sounding more than a little delighted to offer an explanation.

"This is everything," he started, "it is truth, THE truth. For as long as anyone can remember there has been a single overriding will guiding the course of galactic history. They've been controlling not just governments or worlds, but entire civilizations. They weed into the fabric of everyday life and get you to consume and be complacent, all while they control your destiny from the shadows. They hide themselves within conspiracies and lies wrapped up in more conspiracies and lies, making it impossible for anyone to get to the truth. Unless, you wake up and start questioning, asking, thinking. You need to look at the galaxy around you and ask... why?"

Wrex had waddled over to the board itself and had given it a thorough look as Vik kept talking.

"Chem-trails dropped from low flying starships, the spread of Fishdog Food Factory chains, salarian boy bands," Wrex began to read off the board, sounding unconvinced by the content. "Unknown humanoid monster tracks on Noveria, Turian separatist upheavals, the resurgence of human reality shows on holovision?"

Wrex looked to Vik with an incredulous face.

"Seriously? Who has anything to gain by all of this?" He asked.

"That's the inevitable question, isn't it?" Vik asked back in kind, the krogan's disbelief seemingly lost on him.

"Here's another inevitable question," Wrex asked in his usual deadpan manner. "You sure that helmet of yours has been keeping out the noxious fumes you're breathing in?"

Upon Wrex's question, Vik's hands leapt up to his helmet and began caressing the seams frantically. He was suddenly tense, but quickly loosened his shoulders and sighed in relief.

"Nope, I'm good." He responded cheerfully to Wrex.

The krogan rolled his eyes in frustration and walked away. Liara was quick to reassert herself into the conversation. She brought up her omni-tool and opened up the file concerning the ship's photo that Vik had posted.

"How exactly does this fit onto your little board?" She asked.

Vik gave it a look for a few moments, studying it carefully before looking back up to the asari.

"Oh yeah, the Hegemony's experimental spy ship." He stated. "Almost forgot I posted that a few days ago. Everyone knows the Hegemony isn't following that treaty they signed with the Council that limits their fleet size. Now there's proof, but apparently I'm the only one who's been able to spot it from the looks of things."

"Well you and CDEM," Liara reminded him as she lowered her omni-tool. "It is from one of their satellites."

"They just think it's an old smuggler ship." Vik grumbled, frustrated not at Liara but at CDEM's dismissal of the ship's identity. "Bunch of idiots just filed it away in a miscellaneous data stream and forgot it."

"So how did you get it?" She asked him.

Vik was taken aback by the question and looked over at Wrex who was leaning in a corner. He had suddenly become very nervous, his shoulders slumping and his stance parting.

"Why? Are you CDEM or something?" He asked nervously.

"And why would a krogan work with CDEM?" Wrex asked sounding annoyed.

Vik just nodded, his nervous appearance returning to a more relaxed state.

"Good point," he sighed. "Okay, yeah, I bounced a worm program off a few communication buoys and got into their systems. They didn't detect it because it integrates into their systems as a piece of random code. It appears harmless to their security. I've been looking through the satellite for at least a month now, way before I even got here. I was hoping to spot some proof of corporate gun smuggling, particularly from the Hegemony as they give lots of guns to the krogan, and low and behold I find that Hegemony ship doing the smuggling just a few short days ago."

Liara couldn't say she was surprised, impressed, but not surprised. Quarians were notable tech geniuses after all. Vik being a hacker was almost too predictable a skill set given his obvious disdain for governments and corporations. But his prejudice towards the Hegemony apparently coloured his view point. It was time to fill him in.

"It's not a Hegemony ship, but it does belong to a group of aliens that are working with a group of batarian terrorists." She explained, the quarian looking intrigued. "They're called 'The Swords of Khar'Shan' and they're led by a man named Balak. I have the resources that can track them down, but I don't have the means to access their information. If you got into CDEM's systems, do you perhaps know anything else about their activities on Tuchanka? What they were doing there?"

Vik just stared at her for a moment. He walked back to the board, giving things some thought before he came out with any theories. His eyes darted all over the board as he tried to think.

"Well, while I was plugged into the CDEM system, I was looking into some increased chatter from the Blood Pack on Tuchanka on some alien assistance." Vik reasoned, scratching the back of his neck. "That and I heard through the grapevine about this Blood Pack attack on a Salarian Research lab. They say that the place was just a medical facility, but I figured that there was more to it. I thought that maybe the mystery ship played a part in it and tried to see if I could find sightings of it in the system. No luck there."

Liara was suddenly worried that they hit a dead end, but Vik quickly brightened up as a thought came to his mind.

"But now that you tell me that 'The Swords' were involved, that makes things a bit easier to connect." Vik exclaimed happily. "I've been keeping tabs on them for a while, including their leader Balak. He's a tough man to find, but I've been looking into his reported sightings for at least a year now."

"That could be useful," Liara told him, trying to maintain her composure and not get her hopes up. "Have you been able to find a link between them and the Hegemony government? How much funding do they get?"

Vik huffed a little laugh at that.

"The military kind of funding, ma'am," Vik responded, sounding rather proud as he held his head up high. "The thing is, Balak's little gang of thugs aren't run-of-the-mill state sponsored terrorists. They're Black Ops, premiere frontline Hegemony Soldiers. Some are even veterans of the Skyllian Blitz! All of it fully supported by the Hegemony government."

Wrex raised an eyebrow, rejoining the conversation at hand.

"Wait a minute here, you're telling us the Swords are Hegemony Special Forces?" He asked in disbelief. "What makes you think that?"

"Well for one, it's a lot easier to create your own terrorist group in house with professional military personnel than to constantly sponsor a bunch of disparate pirate gangs and slavers who are more concerned about profit than actually hitting the Alliance hard." Vik surmised. "More importantly, Balak is in fact a military officer within the Hegemony."

Wrex still didn't buy it, shaking his head.

"That's crazy, he's just some slaver turned terrorist." The krogan insisted. "He's just moved up in the world since Terra Nova."

"Maybe, but remember what his comrades said back on that asteroid?" Liara asked him. "They said it was supposed to be a quick snatch and grab, but Balak suddenly complicated things and turned it into an act of terrorism. What if that wasn't just spur of the moment? If it was his plan all along, maybe he had orders to do it from the batarian government."

"Plausible deniability." Vik cut in, finishing the thought for her. "The Hegemony gets to strike a huge blow to the Alliance and can just blame it all on a rogue terrorist group. And unlike a real terrorist group, they can control them better and actually direct them against the Alliance specifically. They'd also be a lot more organized than the guys who tried to pull off Elysium. Look, I can even show you proof of it! Give me a second!"

Vik took off to a corner of his apartment and began digging around in his assorted documents. As he did, Wrex took Liara by the arm and led her away from the quarian a bit.

"Are we seriously going to keep listening to this nut?" He asked her.

"If we can corroborate his information he may prove useful in tracking down Balak." Liara suggested.

"He doesn't even know where the ship is." Wrex reminded her. "For all we know, all this crap he's got is just that. Just a bunch of wild theories he's flung against the wall with little to no evidence. He's got more than a few screws loose, you have to see that."

Liara wasn't blind. Of course she saw that Vik was clearly disturbed. His at times fragmented speech, his inability to focus on a singular task, his paranoia, they were all classic signs of someone suffering some form of mental illness. He was broken, that much was clear, but who was she to judge? They all had their dark places. Both she and Wrex had been some place similar. She couldn't imagine what it was like lose your grip on reality, like Vik clearly had. Despite that, he wanted to help them. She could see that in him, it was why he let them in despite what his mind told him to do.

"Shepard had every reason turn away people like you and me, Wrex." Liara told her krogan friend. "Despite our connections and our professions, he let us become part of the crew. He accepted Garrus and Tali, a loose cannon and a child experiencing the galaxy for the first time."

"We had our heads on straight. Even Garrus despite his 'screw the rules' attitude." Wrex argued back. "Tali killed two salarian mercs with a grenade and evaded Saren's assassins for over two days. She had the skills to make up for her lack of experience. This guy we can hardly trust as much because he's so damn unhinged. Next thing you know he'll think you're part of some Matriarchy Conspiracy in the asari government to nationalise Thessia's Rainforests for eezo mining rights."

"Actually, the asari Dairy Industry wants to nationalise the rainforests so it can have more land to breed its genetically enhanced mutant cattle stock."

They both turned to see Vik just a few inches to their left. He looked a bit sullen, although not as much as he probably should've been given the fact they were talking behind his back.

"I know you don't believe me." He admitted, sounding relatively cheerless. "No one ever believes me. But I'll prove I'm right, I have evidence, see."

Vik handed Liara a datapad in his hand. On it was a digital copy of what appeared to be a hegemony military service file. It had the official seal of their armed forces and even their registry code in the corner. From what she could tell, the file was genuine. And the picture in the corner of the file was definitely Balak's face. Liara recognized the green-yellowish tint to his skin. It said he was highly skilled in hand to hand combat, a first rate marksman and even had experience in demolitions. That explained his propensity for explosives.

So Vik was right, Balak had at the very least been in the military at some point. So maybe his hunch about "The Swords" being a black-ops group was right. It would explain why she couldn't find anything on them in the Hegemony's systems. Something this big, Special Forces masquerading as terrorists, would be accessible only to the highest levels of the government and military. But that did leave one other question unanswered.

"How exactly did you get a Hegemony Military Service Record?" She asked Vik with a furrowed brow.

The quarian fumbled his hands a bit, shifting slightly in his stance as he tried to mumble out his words.

"I, uh, I know Hegemony systems. I'm familiar with their military and government codes. I worked with them at one point. The codes, I mean. I don't... I don't want to... it's hard to explain. I don't want to."

It was a question Vik clearly didn't want to answer, and perhaps far too personal. Regardless, if he did know Hegemony codes, he could be more useful to them than she originally thought.

"Do you have anything else on Balak and his group?" She asked, changing the subject. "Contacts? Numbers? Facilities?"

"Not sure," Vik admitted with a shrug. "They don't exactly have a newsletter. I pieced together what I could from news articles and the like. I have a back log of stuff at this point and the medication makes it hard to remember all of it off hand. If you give me some time, maybe I can dig through my stuff and locate it."

That would probably take a while and Liara wasn't counting on Aria to let her stay here for that long. So far Vik seemed to have more information on 'The Swords', and potentially the Covenant with any luck, than she did. If he really did know Hegemony codes, and the fact she was holding Balak's service record suggested he did, he could be even more useful in helping her operatives crack the batarian government's systems. Before she could suggest anything, however, her omni-tool's alarm started to ring. It had to be from Saya, something was wrong. She looked to the door just as a strange sound caught her attention and Vik's.

A blue blade suddenly sliced through the door's lock and Vik screamed aloud in a fright, panic taking over once more.

"They've come for me! I ain't going back! I'll never go back!"

Vik had already ducked behind one of his desks by the time the door got sliced through. On the other side were two sangheili in blue armour. The roared aloud and pointed towards Wrex and Liara menacingly.

"Good," Wrex said with a smirk as he pulled out his shotgun. "I needed to hit something really badly."

One of the sangheili rushed forward jumping up on a desk and launching himself towards them. With a combined throw attack, Wrex and Liara sent the alien flying backwards into a wall. He landed in a forward kneeling position as his comrade came up to fire on them with his plasma rifle. The two took cover behind one of the desks. It was then Vik popped up from his cover, armed with a shotgun of his own.

"You'll never take me back! I'm never going back!" He screamed in anger as he fired at the two with his shotgun.

The Covenant hit squad went to ground, turning over a table loaded down with datapads to act as their own piece of cover. Vik then activated his omni-tool and the micro-replicators inside created a small hovering sentry turret that floated just above his cover. It opened fire on the Covenant, keeping their heads down as he made a break for a wall to the side and a bookcase pressed against it.

"Where the hell is he going?" Wrex asked.

Vik pulled the bookcase down and ducked behind it. Liara couldn't see it from her angle, but she could hear rummaging behind the turned over case through all the gunfire. It didn't take much thinking to figure out what he was doing.

"I'm going after him." She told Wrex. "Think you can handle this?"

Wrex looked briefly at the sangheili and then just laughed.

"Please, I'm me, remember?" He chuckled. "You do what you need to."

Liara nodded once and ran for the bookcase. Wrex covered her with a barrage of shotgun fire that kept the sangheili pinned behind their table. When she reached Vik's position, she found the quarian gone and an open ventilation shaft on the wall. He had bolted, as she suspected. She couldn't exactly blame him. He was only a civilian, one with serious mental issues. If she were in his place a few years ago she'd have probably done the same thing, but she couldn't let him leave now. The Covenant's sudden appearance made that fact clear enough. She scampered through the vent as Wrex continued the gunfight.

Wrex taunted the aliens with a chortle as their plasma bolts harmlessly struck his cover.

"Ha! You couldn't hit a thresher maw if you were right in his face!" He said mocking them.

They must have taken offence to that statement as the sangheili switched tactics. A blue ball arced over the counter and landed a few inches in front of Wrex. He was smart enough to figure out what it was and dove away from it quickly. The explosion ripped through his former cover as fierily plasma rained down. Wrex quickly pulled himself up, but the sangheili were rushing from cover already. One of them had jumped up on one of the desks and aimed his plasma rifle right at the krogan.

That was when a sword tip cut clean through his upper torso. The sangheili only flinched in pain slightly and tried to grip the sword's blade to pull it out. Instead an electric shock pulsed through his body and the alien fell to the desk dead. Saya Empa, decloaked and sword still drawn, stood over him. He seemed to look at Wrex in a rather demeaning fashion. The krogan could just tell his intent, even without seeing his face proper.

Saya didn't get to bask in his kill for long. The other sangheili fired on the salarian, forcing him into cover. The Covenant soldier bolted for the door in a hasty retreat. They would have to follow him, keep him from doubling back or getting more of his friends. If there were two of these sangheili here, Wrex surmised, then there were doubtlessly more.

* * *

The tight space of the ventilation system of Omega made for slow going, but Liara had been in smaller confines than this in her digs. Her only concern was finding Vik before he hurt himself in his panic or got lost in the crowd. Then she'd never find him and whatever he knew would be lost to her.

The quarian had fortunately not gotten far. She just had to follow the frightened little sobs. As she rounded the third corner she found Vik, curled up in a ball holding his head in shame. He was rocking back and forth a little, his shotgun by his side.

"I'm sorry." He kept repeating. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

He didn't seem to be talking to her. He was off in his own world again, retreating into his fractured mind. Just like Aria had said he had when she had struck him back in Afterlife.

"Vik." She called out to hi calmly.

The quarian looked over to her, looking ashamed.

"I left you. I'm sorry." He sobbed. "I left you. I shouldn't have left you."

He sounded distant as he apologised, she was still unsure if he was really back. Liara pressed him anyway. She needed him to focus now.

"Vik, I'm not mad." She assured him. "You were scared, you panicked. I get it, I understand."

"No, I should've stayed." He sniffed. "I should've stayed. I should've died."

"Stop it." Liara told him sternly but softly. "You are not going to go to pieces on me here. I will get you through this, but you need to focus on me and right now."

Vik took a few deep breaths and then took up his shotgun again. He stopped shaking and sobbing, returning to a more stable frame of mind.

"Were those the, um, aliens you mentioned?" He asked her at last.

"Yes," Liara confirmed nodding. "They're the ones working with the Hegemony. I doubt they tracked me here, so I can only imagine they're probably after you."

"I knew it. The Hegemony has finally seen fit to silence me." Vik growled in righteous anger. "Well, they can't stop the truth. No one can stop the truth."

Perhaps feeding his paranoia was a bad idea, but it was true. The sangheili would've sent more than two soldiers to take her and Wrex out at this point. They had sent a whole squad just for her after all. It was highly probable they weren't expecting anyone else in that apartment but Vik.

"But how did they find me?" Vik asked. "You don't think Aria tipped them off do you?"

"Aria just wanted you out of the way, she doesn't want you dead." Liara assured him. "Somehow they must've been able to trace your extranet posts directly back to you."

"That would've taken a lot of time." Vik replied. "I have firewalls for my firewalls, dummy addresses, reroute software, the works. How could they locate me or even know who I am? Unless they got some sort of tech that spies through the extranet tubes!"

Liara doubted that very much, but Vik was right about one thing, it would've taken time. She had only been able to find Vik's approximate location before. The Covenant would've had to been working towards finding him for a while now.

"They probably found a way to hack into Omega's security systems and worked from there." Liara assumed. "But that's still a lot of work to go through just to silence the poster of one blurry photo."

"Keelah, what are you saying?" Vik asked nervously. "That... I may have found something worse than their spy ship?"

"Possibly, we'll need to go through your files to be sure." Liara informed him. "If this is about something besides your photo then we may have a lead on our next target."

But first things first, they had to get out of these vents. Vik seemed to realise that himself and began crawling away, beckoning her to follow. Liara stayed behind the quarian as they moved through the twisting old shafts. Vik seemed pretty at ease despite the claustrophobic nature of their surroundings.

"Do you know where you're going?" She asked him.

"This was my escape route." He explained to her. "I figured if Aria or someone else sent someone to put me down I'd need a way out of the apartment. So I mapped out the ventilation shaft with a drone and found the best way to get out of the line of fire."

"That's remarkably forward thinking." Liara complimented.

"You have to plan ahead of the liars and the corrupt." Vik replied, his voice carrying a sting. "You can't let them outthink you. That's how they subvert your intentions. How the bosh'tets get into your skull and feed you their poison."

He was still a bit out there, but Liara admitted to herself that it seemed, in this case, Vik's paranoia had been warranted. What did he know that the Covenant and Balak wanted to silence? It had to be big to go through all this trouble.

They finally came to a grate in the wall. Vik turned his legs around to deliver a swift kick to it, knocking it clean out of the vent. He hastily scrambled out of the duct, Liara close behind. They found themselves emerging from the other side of a food vendor's counter. The turian owner did not look happy to see them.

"What the hell?!" He shouted in anger as Liara exited.

Vik had already jumped over the counter into a crowd of patrons.

"Sorry! So sorry!" He apologised. "Go about your business! Nothing to see!"

Liara pulled herself up from the ground, earning the ire of the turian vendor as well.

"If it isn't bad enough I have vorcha stealing my stock, I have damn suit rats and asari beggars coming out of the walls!" He growled as he waved his hatchet around.

"Apologies, we meant no offence." She quickly stated. She held up her omni-tool and clicked a few commands. Within seconds she had accessed the vendor's omni-tool and transferred a few credits into his account. "That should cover the damages, forget you saw us."

Liara raced out of the vendor's stall and met up with Vik among the bustling crowd of the marketplace. She didn't wait for the angry turian to reply to her bit of charity, she needed to find a way to double back and get to Vik's data. As they moved through the packed streets of Omega, she tried to get more out of her new quarian companion.

"How much of the data on Balak and his group is back at the apartment?" She asked him.

"A good chunk," Vik admitted, "but I keep most of my crucial stuff backed up on my omni-tool and with me at all times. That includes Hegemony related data."

Then there was a good chance that whatever the Covenant were looking for, they already had it with them. There was no time to check it over in the open. They needed to get Vik somewhere safe. The _Lucen_ was probably their best bet at this point, if they could get to her. She first wanted to link back up with Wrex and Saya. Hopefully they were okay. She activated her comm-link.

"Wrex, I have Vik." She began. "We're in the marketplace. Are you alright?"

It took a few seconds, but she eventually got a response.

"Yeah me and the salarian are fine." Wrex's voice assured her. "The quarian's apartment is kinda trashed though. Some kind of plasma grenade went off. One of the sangheili tucked tail and ran though. He's probably alerted everyone that we're here by now."

"Listen to me Wrex, have Saya download everything he can from Vik's files and try to link up with us." She told him. "We need to get to the _Lucen_ and fast. They're after Vik and what he knows."

"Figures," Wrex grumbled. "I knew this crap was gonna involve a damn rescue somehow."

Vik suddenly tugged on Liara's sleeve at that.

"Tell them to bring the board." Vik requested. "I need the board."

"We'll get it later," Liara told him, not really sure she should be making such promises as she tried to calm him. "Right now we have to put some distance between us and those assassins."

"Keep a low profile out there until we can get to you, T'Soni." Wrex added over the comm. "There ain't many quarians on Omega and if he's their target you'll stick out like a thresher maw puking up its lunch."

Liara grimaced and shook slightly.

"Thank you for the image, Wrex." She sighed.

The marketplace of the lower levels was packed with various species, loud barking vendors and merchants, more than a few wannabe musicians trying to subsist on credit chits. Like Wrex had said though, no quarians and absolutely no quarians with an asari escort. This was not a good place to be. They needed to get out of the open before something happened.

Liara scanned the crowd as they kept moving through the streets. She and Vik were easy to spot sure, but so would eight foot tall aliens in blue armour. There were so many bodies though, it made locating anything difficult, at least from this angle. Then she thought of something. Maybe it was Vik's own sense of paranoia bleeding into her, but she realised if the Covenant assassins were in the same boat in regards to locating each other on the streets, how would they counter that?

She looked up to sections above the streets, the maintenance catwalks, high up positions on the structures, overlooks, something that would make for a good vantage point. Then she spotted it, something moving up above and the faint pink glow of a familiar weapon. Without thinking much about it, she pushed Vik to the ground with her on top of him. A series of shots rang out. A nearby human fell to the ground clutching his leg with a pair Pink needles sticking out of it.

Liara looked back up to the ledge she had seen the assassin fire from and stuck out her arm to reel the gunman in with a pull attack. The assailant was pulled from his perch with ease. It was then Liara caused him to plummet back to the ground at lightning speed with a slam attack. The attacker rushed back to earth with a thump.

By now the commotion had caused the large crowd to disperse. Liara pulled herself and Vik up and walked over to their would-be killer. It wasn't a sangheili, it wasn't an unggoy. No, it was something new. It looked like a bird, with feathers on top of its head and beak of sorts. No wings though. Its weapon appeared to be a rifle version of the needle gun she had seen previously. She picked it up from the floor, no sense leaving it for the Covenant to retrieve.

"What is that thing?" Vik asked, still eyeballing the alien bird creature.

"I'm not sure, but we best watch above for more of them." Liara warned.

They had other problems though. The crowd had parted enough to make them lose their cover from the streets. In moments Liara spotted one of the sangheili with two others of his ilk, shoving around a salarian shop owner when his companion pointed in their direction. The old saying was true, if you can see them chances are they can see you, and these sangheili could see them very clearly.

"Move! Now!" Liara ordered Vik, who obliged post haste.

The sangheili started firing as the two retreated. By now the various vendors had either abandoned their makeshift shops or carts or were huddling behind them for shelter from the rapidly increasing chaos. With plasma bolts flying past them, Vik and Liara ducked into cover behind one of the vendors. The bolts struck, blowing item stands apart and showering them with bits of food that were hanging from the tarp above.

"Get a drone out there," Liara told Vik as she flipped her pistol to fire warp rounds. "We need to distract them!"

"On it." The quarian complied.

Doing as told, Vik activated a combat drone. It was your standard ball shape, but possessed a bright red and yellow colour scheme. It appeared to the side of one of the sangheili and quickly shocked him with a blast of energy. The alien pulled away, readying to fire on the drone. That gave Liara the chance she needed. She stood up and flung a throw attack that sent the sangheili and his partner flying backwards into one of the vendor stands.

Knowing that wouldn't keep them down for long, Liara and Vik continued their way along the vendor stall. They eventually came to a bend in the line of stalls. The only way forward was an open street. It seemed like an easy enough run, except for a sudden development when they arrived. A green plasma bolt struck near the edge of the stall their using for cover. It had come from further down the street. Liara looked up to see the shooters were a pair of those bird-creatures, these ones carrying yellow circular shields.

"Keelah, they got a riot squad?" He said astonished.

"With energy-based shields it seems." Liara added rather plainly.

She suddenly recalled one of the aliens of the Covenant that Kayap had mentioned to her. He had called them kig-yar, said they mostly worked for money and enjoyed picking on Unggoy as a stress reliever. From what she could piece together from Kayap's explanation they were very fast, very agile and were crack shots. Kayap hadn't said it in exactly those words of course, but she preferred to paraphrase his broken speech at this point.

And now, these kig-yar were blocking off the way down the street. She fired on the aliens with her pistol with warp rounds, but they didn't seem to affect the shields all that much. She thought since they appeared energy based her warp rounds would bring them down. It seemed to disrupt the shields, but she didn't have time to whittle them down as they continued to approach.

A further complication appeared soon after. Liara heard something down the other end of the street. Scrambling down from the structures above were another pair of kig-yar, these ones armed with the same needle rifles as their now dead friend. They scurried and slid down the side of a wall, one of them flipping over onto the ground with his rifle out while the other dropped onto the overhanging roof edge of a nearby establishment. They both began firing on the position of the two, their needles pinning them down as the ones with shields continued approaching.

Liara looked for another escape. She found it in a bar across from their position named "Tyrexius' Place." With an under title that said "Guaranteed to Raise your Spirits, in your Glass or Otherwise." There was little question as to what "otherwise" meant. They could get to it, but they needed to be quick and keep the fire from bring them down the middle of the street.

"We're going to make a run for that bar." Liara informed Vik.

He gave one good look at the name and shook his head.

"They don't accept quarians in there!" He explained. "I just passed by one time and the owner threatened to shoot me!"

"I think he'll make an exception." She informed him unconcerned by the information. "Set down a turret and stay with me."

Vik seemed a bit shaken by the asari's stern resolve, but followed nonetheless. He got his omni-tool to set up a turret in the street. It opened up on the shield carrying kig-yar, forcing them back as the bullets pummelled their protection. Liara moved out, holding Vik by the shoulder as they did. She fired her pistol at the other set of kig-yar down the street, forcing them to cover as the warp rounds zipped by. They didn't stop running until they burst straight through the door of the bar.

The inside of Tyrexius' was pretty typical for a scummy den in the bowels of Omega. This wasn't Afterlife, the music was muted through an old stereo system and the lights were dimmed to near darkness. Smoke, booze and sex filled the air with a pungent aroma denoting to a non-functioning air conditioning system and the colour of the filthy walls and floor was moody and grim.

In the center of the establishment was a gambling table seating two humans, three turians, a salarian and a vorcha. They were playing skyllian five poker with each other, most were smoking on cheap cigarettes and guzzling cheaper beer. The music was some old turian rock song from 2160's, ironically playing what looked to be some krogan built jukebox system that was probably older than the rebellions. How it still worked Liara wasn't sure. Its design was Spartan, with an electronic screen that was cracked and most of its lights were either busted or dead. On the walls there were some risqué posters of asari dancers and a dartboard with a picture pinned to it depicting a rather offensive caricature of a quarian clutching a snatched bag of credit chits.

Vik wasn't kidding about the owner being a racist. The patrons seemed to share the sentiment, eyeing Vik with suspicion and distaste when they walked in. Besides the poker players there was a krogan in one of the corners, a pair of asari hanging off another turian near the bar and a whole mess of vorcha. Despite being usually equally loathed the bar's owner seemed to tolerate them more than quarians.

The owner himself was behind the bar, serving a drink to a human sitting at the counter. The second he looked at Vik his expression turned to an incensed glare before he shouted at them.

"Hey! The fuck is this?" He demanded to know. "Quarians aren't allowed! Escort or no escort!"

Liara moved forward undaunted, Vik following. The exit had to be at the back. She'd just move through and get out of this before things got unreasonable. As they approached the bar, Liara's grip on her gun tightened as she noticed more and more eyes on her and Vik.

"Apologies for interrupting," She said, trying her best to sound polite in her frantic state of mind. "But this is an emergency. We just need to cut through here and-"

The turian owner didn't let her explain further. He picked up a knife and with his free hand violently shoving a finger in her face. She tried to keep moving to the back where she saw a door, but one of the vorcha blocked their path, punching his fist into his hand and snarling at them.

"I don't give a shit what you need. You and your suit rat boyfriend wanna fuck? Find someplace else!" The owner growled as he pointed the knife towards them. "Get out, before I toss you both out like garbage! We don't accept stolen money!"

Liara T'Soni was a very understanding asari. She had been taught since birth to be tolerant of other people's beliefs. That it was her people's place to act as a source of reason for the galaxy. As much as her familial relations had faltered in the past, that tenet remained one of her core values, always present in her mind. However, she was not having a good day and this belligerent racist yelling at her was a person she had no patience for.

She went for her holster, pulled out her pistol and pointed it straight at son of a bitch's head.

"Do you accept bullets?" She asked coldly. "I can assure you I didn't steal them."

The turian owner looked bug eye at the piece now staring him in the face. He dropped his knife, tossing it to the side, but to his credit he stood his ground nevertheless. Vik was more put off by the sudden change in attitude than him.

"By the Ancestors," he shouted in shock, stepping a bit away from her in fear. "Can we not point guns at people in the middle of a bar for local thugs?"

Liara could already see some of the patrons going for their weapons, including the krogan who brought out a club and began to slowly advance on them. So Vik's concerns were warranted. They didn't need to stay for long. All they needed was get to that door in the corner. It was probably their best bet for an exit. The vorcha was still blocking them though, so they needed to get past him. But before could think of a plan to remove him from their escape route, the front door burst open as a sangheili kicked it in. The door slammed into the face of another vorcha who was trying to leave, making him fall to the ground blotching his mouth.

"Oh damn it all, what now?" The turian owner complained.

The sangheili spotted his two targets almost instantly. He readied his weapon to fire just as Liara rolled over the bar's countertop with Vik scrambling to follow. The sangheili fired three quick shots over the heads of the poker players who ducked down when he pointed his gun in their direction. The turian and his asari companions at the bar dashed out of the way, but the human wasn't as lucky as one of the shots hit him square in the back. He slumped over dead on the bar.

"Spirits!" Was all the turian owner could say before he backed up into his liquor cabinet in fright.

The sangheili didn't get another shot off as he received a punch to his face. It was from the vorcha he had inadvertently knocked down when he had entered. He was barely staggered by the strike, but the vorcha had gotten his full attention.

"No one knock me to floor and get away!" The vorcha demanded as he faced the alien with an aggressive toothy frown. "Who you think you be? Me kill you now!"

The vorcha's rant was cut short when the sangheili ignited a plasma dagger and sliced the vorcha's head clean off the second he finished his sentence. The body collapsed limp to the floor, the eliciting a few more shocked swear words. Everyone who had previously been pulling out guns on Liara and Vik now had them trained on the sangheili. Even the owner had gone for his assault rifle under the bar.

"Waste whatever the fuck that thing is!" Someone shouted.

The sangheili rolled to the side as bullets began to whizz all over the room. Two more sangheili rolled into the fray through the door, their weapons at the ready. The poker players turned their table over, spilling chips, cards and drinks as the bar room broke out into an all out gun fight. The kig-yar were close behind the three sangheili, their shields raised high to defend the sangheili. With everything going on, Vik and Liara could only watch as this situation spiralled further out of control.

One of the vorcha took a full blast of plasma bolts to the chest, he was down in seconds. Even with the insane regenerative powers he possessed he was no match for so many close range energy-based shots. The krogan at the back raced forward, firing his shotgun into the fray. The kig-yar's shield withstood the shot and the sangheili behind him opened up with a torrent of plasma fire.

The krogan took the hits better than the Vorcha, his armour absorbing much of the impacting bolts, so he closed in to deliver a powerful punch to the sangheili. The Covenant soldier simply dodged out of the way and then stabbed his plasma dagger straight into the krogan's back. One of the turians managed to land a few shots to the back of the sangheili in question, but his shields absorbed it. The Covenant soldier tossed a blue ball at the turian, sticking it onto his upper torso. As the turian tried to pull it off, the object exploded into a ball of flame, killing him and what was left of the poker group in a burst of blue fire.

"Holy shit!" The owner screeched as he ducked behind the bar. He then noticed Vik and Liara. "You fuckers! What did you bring to my fucking bar?!"

The enraged turian levelled the rifle at them, but Liara simply trapped him in stasis before he could pull the trigger. She did not intend to stay and wait for him to get out of it. They just needed to get out. Vik apparently had the same idea and made his way over to the door to the right corner. She followed as vorcha was flung over the bar and slammed into the liquor cabinet behind her. When they got to the door they saw the holographic sign on it indicating it was locked. Vik quickly pulled up his omni-tool and tapped a few commands.

"Security for this place is garbage." He muttered over the gunfire as he worked. "Bosh'tet should've invested in a better lockout system."

The door was soon bypassed and opened wide for them. The two raced inside and Liara had the door shut behind them. She then shot out the opening mechanism so it would stay shut for a while longer. She still doubted the Covenant would let a door stop them for long.

"What about the bar goers?" Vik asked her.

"You mean the racist thugs who were two seconds away from shooting us before our friend showed up?" She asked plainly in return as she holstered her gun. "What about them?"

The quarian looked at her, eyes wide.

"Keelah." Was all Vik could muster in response to her statement.

It was cold, perhaps, but if they had just let them pass through without making a fuss about it, this wouldn't have happened. It was just how it was, Liara couldn't change that. What was important now was getting out of here alive.

They moved down the steps to the basement. There resided the owner's side business. A few old beds and mattresses rested on the ground and against walls, occupying them were asari, humans, turians and one elcor female in various states of undress. They were shrieking, covering themselves or groaning in disappointment over the interruption. They had probably all heard the gunfire, but a few were more interested in their current activities.

"You may want to consider finding someplace else to spend the evening." Liara warned them all.

She found the emergency exit door and kicked it open. She let the patrons all run out first before she and Vik left. When the basement was empty, Vik pushed a nearby dumpster against the door, scrapping it along the street. It was a straining process, but thankfully Liara saw what he was doing and helped push it the rest of the way. As they took off again, Vik looked to Liara.

"Thinking a few steps ahead, remember?" He said to her.

It had been a good idea blocking the door like that. Sadly, it didn't help them lose the Covies. As they made their way down the back alley, one of the kig-yar with a needle rifle jumped down into their path. He saw them instantly, stretched out his bony claw-like finger and screeched loudly at them. Without thinking, Liara pulled the needle rifle from her back and fired it on the alien. She hit him with five clean shots, and then, just as the smaller needle weapon had done before, the needles exploded into a pink cloud that engulfed the kig-yar. Vik jolted back at the explosion and Liara eyed the weapon more carefully.

"I bet Garrus would love this gun." She thought aloud to herself.

She was relatively calm, but Vik was frantic and hyperventilating. Liara could hear his heavy breathing even now. He hadn't planned on running for his life today. Then again, when she started out, she hadn't planned on getting trapped by Geth. Vik eventually voiced a question he had no doubt been meaning to ask for a while now.

"What kind of a Doctor are you exactly?" He asked seemingly in disbelief.

Brought out of her slight daze, she looked to Vik and answered.

"I'm an archaeologist." She told him succinctly. "Come on, we need to put some distance between us and them."

They kept moving through the alleyways. They needed to stay off the streets as long as possible. The Covenant were probably all over this area by now. It wasn't safe for them or anyone else around them.

* * *

Aria rubbed her temples in frustration as she watched the security footage. She knew letting one of Shepard's friends, let alone T'Soni, back on her station would lead to trouble. She didn't expect this kind of trouble though. A safe house shot up, a marketplace devastated with a number of dead in the crossfire and a bar shot to pieces. Yes, she was fine when this was more confined, but this was fast spreading to the majority of the lower levels. If what Anto was showing her was correct, there were more aliens moving in to hunt down T'Soni... with bigger weapons to boot. These things were running wild on her station.

That would not do.

Anto switched to one of her flying drone cameras, spotting that strange flying ship again moving towards T'Soni's position. It was a live feed and from the looks of things more of the bastards were converging on her. She wouldn't have cared all that much, were it not for the fact they were headed to one of the larger business strips in the lower levels. Not vendors or street merchants, but actual stores and places she had her hands, both in terms of protection and distribution.

"Damn it all." She growled to herself.

She got up from her couch and marched passed Anto.

"You need us to send in the troops, boss?" he asked her.

"No," She answered gravely, looking over her shoulder. "I'll handle this. Someone had to remind these aliens of THE rule."

* * *

Storefronts lined one end of street while the other end hand a few small side shops against a ledge along the level. The strip's position along the ledge gave a perfect view of the desolate grimy splendour that Omega was so famous for. For Liara's purposes at least, there was more cover here among the small shops on either side and sometimes in the middle of the street, along with the various benches, holo-sign ads and garbage bins.

No one seemed to pay much attention to her and Vik. They were too busy shopping no doubt. Although the more accurate word given the smell of some of the smoke in the air was probably "dealing." Liara wasn't fool enough to think that they had lost the Covenant. They were around. She was more concerned about Wrex finding them first, if at all. Knowing him though, he'd most likely follow the gunfire straight to them. They'd just have to hold the aliens till then. Another reason she appreciated the added cover this area provided.

"We're not going to be able to outrun them forever." Liara warned Vik. "I hope you got some practice with that shotgun."

"I've had a little." He admitted weakly. "Mainly at firing ranges that let me in."

Vik's lack of practice was disconcerting. He wasn't ready to hold a line against a group of religious fanatics. However, she had been the same way once. Perhaps she could help at least make him more confident.

"Take it from me," Liara said, trying her best to sound reassuring. "Sometimes the best practice is the kind you get in the field."

She wasn't sure if that helped ease the quarian's mind, but he did seem a little less shaky.

Liara looked back and through the crowd where she saw one of their hunters. The sangheili had gotten around the bar barricade and had made their way through the alleyways. Now they had caught up with them again. They pushed their way through the crowd, one of them holding up a datapad to the crowd. She couldn't see it, but she could imagine her face, or Vik's, was on it. They weren't speaking any clear language, but their intentions were clear enough to passersby.

They were going to be spotted sooner or later. Liara motioned Vik to go to cover. They found it in one of the advertisement screens on the promenade. It was for some aircar dealership. Ducking behind it, Liara got out her gun discreetly. This was going to get hot fast, she just hoped Wrex was closing in on them. Vik had his shotgun out as well, although at this range she didn't think it would do much good against the Sangheili on the other end of the street. If only she had a spare pistol she could lend him.

"As soon as they get close drop a sentry turret." Liara told the Quarian.

"Alright, that sounds good." Vik responded, trying to remain calm and failing as he shook. "Just say when."

But while the Sangheili were pushing themselves through the crowd, something flew into view from out of the red-hued skies of Omega. Liara looked to see a small of flying craft with two prong-like sticks protruding out of its slender purple frame. They had brought air support in on the search, lovely. This complicated things slightly, but they could handle it.

The craft moved towards their position, its nose horizontal towards the length of the promenade. It would spot them easily behind the sign, they'd be sitting ducks. They would need to move, fast. She looked around, spotting another holo-sign, this one advertising a local weapons mods store. It was sticking out of the side of said store which was in the middle of the street. It was a bit of a run from their position, but they were going to get spotted anyway.

She was more concerned about all the people in the way. While she had not been too concerned with the thugs in the bar, they had after all threatened her and Vik, this was different. These people were just going about their regular business and now they were caught in the crossfire. Currently, they were all curious about the flying purple aircraft floating past, some a bit scared of it, others possibly wondering if they should shoot it first. She would need to clear them out, and since she was going to get spotted anyway...

She leapt up, urging Vik to follow. The quarian did his best to keep up as the asari rushed through the street, firing her gun into the air like mad. The crowd quickly scattered, scrambling away from the area as fast as their legs could carry them. Some with the twitchier fingers and greater bravado stayed, pulling their guns out and trying to figure what had just happened. The Covenant aircraft didn't wait long to answer that query. It opened up on Vik and Liara with a barrage of plasma bolts as they ran for the shop. They ducked behind their new cover, Liara pressing herself up against the sign as Vik slid against the exterior wall of the store.

"Bosh'tet has us zeroed." Vik said, trying to remain collected and failing. He turned to Liara. "It's gonna circle around to this side you know."

"Drop the sentry turret and check the door to the shop." Liara told him. "If it's locked, bypass it. We can use it as a miniature bunker."

Vik got his omni-tool out and put a turret down in the street. As it opened up, Vik turned to work on the door. Liara kept watch on the street. The civilians had cleared out, even most of the trigger happy ones. Apparently, this was a fight few wanted to get involved in. There were still a few though, turians and vorcha too stubborn to leave. They kept off the streets however, firing bursts at the approaching Covenant. It barely slowed down the sangheili or their riot shield toting companions. The kig-yar acted as walking extra shields for their taller friends.

As Liara looked out into the fight she quickly turned attention to the rooftops. She spotted a few more of the kig-yar, the ones armed with those needle rifles. She pulled her head back when she saw one of them aiming in her direction. The pink shards slammed harmlessly into the sign. Vik's turret moved to turn on the snipers, firing up at the rooftops with a furious barrage of bullets. It would only keep so many hostiles at bay for so long.

"We need to be inside now, Vik!" Liara shouted at the quarian.

"The shop has a triple combination lock system with an added security program that could lock me out if I'm not careful." He explained to her frantically. "I don't work well under pressure."

"Just work fast then!" Liara replied, plasma bolts now hitting the sign.

She peeked out to see one sangheili beating a vorcha into the ground with his foot. She could barely see it, but she saw another sangheili firing indiscriminately at something blocked by a kiosk. She didn't have time to think about it, all she knew was the distractions were slowing them down. She didn't like how she felt somewhat grateful for that. It wouldn't matter in a minute anyway, that aircraft was no doubt getting closer. She could hear its terrible low screeching noise growing louder.

"Anytime now, Vik!" She screamed out.

Vik's eyes seemed glued to his tool, almost like his board back in the apartment. Liara wasn't even sure if he had heard her that time. All she knew was that in the next few seconds the door suddenly slid open and Vik scrambled in with her close behind. Once inside she had the door shut behind them and she fired a shot into the control mechanism to keep it that way for now.

"Virus needed a few extra seconds to override security," Vik told her, seemingly apologizing to her. "I found this was so much easier when omni-gel could solve half my problems. It was a hacker's paradise for about a year."

"I know the feeling." Liara concurred.

The shutters to the shop's windows were still closed, but they could find the switch for them eventually. At the moment they were in the main storage area with the clerk's counter just past their enclosed little gate. The shelves were packed with mods for every kind of gun Liara could think of. Even the under counter was stocked to capacity. The owner must have gotten in a big order.

"Place has some quality parts." Vik said eyeing a shotgun choke on the shelf.

"How much of it do you suppose is illegal in council space?" She asked him offhandedly.

"Eh, I guess over seventy percent." The quarian reasoned. "And that's giving the owner the benefit of the doubt."

Liara shot off the lock to the storage area's gate while Vik looked for the breaker box. As she opened the door, the shop was rocked by some kind of explosion that rattled the shelves and shook the walls. The ceiling cracked, showering them with bits of metal and stone. It was a good thing this place had been built to last. Given the business it was in and where it was stationed, Liara could understand why.

"It must be that aircraft," Liara rationalised, "get the shutters open, Vik. We need to keep them at bay."

Vik found the breaker box and turned one of the switches. The shutter flew open and almost at once, plasma bolts began to strike the building. At least the openings were slender enough that most caught the sides of the building rather than sailing through them. Both Liara and Vik pressed themselves against the counter near the store terminal. She got a quick view over the counter to see the Covenant had pretty much surrounded their position.

"Anything in here we can use to make our arsenal a bit stronger?" She asked Vik.

The quarian dug around under the counter a bit and pulled out a few mods. He looked around for anything potentially useful, eventually passing off an extended pistol barrel to Liara. She took it and quickly attached it to the gun. The extra damage could prove useful.

Once it was on, she popped up from cover and fired into the assembled crowd of Covenant. The rounds hit one of the sangheili, taking down his shields after a few clear hits. That was when one of the kig-yar stepped into her line of fire to cover him with his shield. The orange energy stopped her shots cold.

Vik tried his best to help take him down. He popped up beside Liara and fired a blast at the kig-yar. It failed to penetrate to shield, but the shot did stagger the alien backward. His fellow kig-yar soon approached to help support him. When the kig-yar regained his composure, he fired back with his needle gun from behind the safety of his cover, forcing them back down into cover.

"We need a new strategy." Liara suggested. "I don't suppose you have some grenades on you."

Vik checked his pouches and pockets, but came up empty.

"Damn, I probably left them back on my roundabout." He complained.

"Why would you keep grenades on your shuttle?" Liara asked confused.

"Not important." He replied, dismissing the question. "I can improvise."

Vik began pulling out boxes under the counter, spilling the contents onto the floor. As he scoured the various mods he began picking up a number into his clutches. He discarded some, before taking a pistol melee stunner upgrade and SMG Heat Sink component. As he clutched them tightly, plasma bolts flew clean through the open window.

"Keep them busy, Doctor." Vik requested as politely as he could while he rummaged through more boxes. "I need time to work."

Liara hoped the quarian knew what he was doing. At the moment, she just had to do her best to keep the Covenant on their toes. She stood up from cover again and fired into the crowd of aliens. They were behind their own signs and benches as well by now. The kig-yar were the only ones out in the open and that was because they had their own cover. That didn't make them invulnerable though. Their shields could only protect them from the front and from bullets after all.

She stretched out her hand and formed a singularity behind the line of kig-yar. The shield carrying aliens were picked clean off the ground and pulled into the whirling ball of blue energy. Unable to fight it, no matter how desperately they clawed at the air, they were helpless to Liara's follow up attack, a 'throw' sent hurtling into their midst. The attack detonated the singularity, decimating the kig-yar with a biotic explosion.

As the bodies of the kig-yar fell to the ground, biotic energy cascading around their bodies like fire, needles from above struck down on the shop's window. The kig-yar snipers had them pinned again and the sangheili had renewed firing on the storefront as well. It would take a lot more than a singularity detonation to take them down. This was especially so given their extra shielding, that would probably absorb most of the blast, and their own tenacity to keep fighting.

Luckily, Vik seemed to have a solution. Liara looked back to him to see that he had added a shotgun spare thermal clip mod and a power magnifier for a pistol to his collection of items. He had broken out his extra tools and was beginning to piece the mods together. He was pulling out pieces, placing the mods inside each other or connecting them together. As it neared completion, the stunner and heat sink seemed fused to one another. The sink's part was transplanted into the spare shotgun clip while the generator had been forcibly plugged into the stunner. As Vik furiously continued making cuts and welds into the jury rigged device, Liara felt compelled to ask the inevitable question.

"What are you doing?" She curiously enquired.

"Making a bomb." He replied simply.

At that moment, he pulled something free of the generator and it burst to life. The stunner suddenly glowed bright as an electrical charge built up. Vik rushed to the window and looked out into the street, the improvised explosive sparking in his hand. He looked to one of the groups of sangheili behind an ad for Fishdog Food Factory and tossed his creation towards them.

The device landed just to the left of them. They understandably looked down on the sparking pile of mutilated junk confused and bewildered. When it glowed red hot, however, they realised their mistake and tried to run. The resulting explosion was like that of a powerful pipe bomb. It ripped the advertising sign apart and did the same to the sangheili. Their shields were drained to nothing and their bodies riddled with shrapnel. The two aliens fell over dead in the street. Vik pumped his fist in the air at the success.

"You Hegemony stooges can go choke on that!" He shouted in triumph.

Liara pulled the quarian down just as the kig-yar snipers opened up on the store front again. She was still happy that they had eliminated two of the sangheili, but there were more out there than just those two last she saw.

"Where'd you learn to jury rig a bomb?" She asked him.

"Extranet." Vik answered rather hastily. "Curiosity only."

Given the nature of the seedy underbelly of the extranet that was probably mostly true. Although Vik's paranoid personality was clearly showing again. But while there was no doubt more to the story behind Vik's engineering skills, she couldn't delve deeper into an interrogation.

The storefront was suddenly rocked once more by a terrible explosion. This one cracked the roof over them. Liara motioned Vik to run away from the collapsing section and they both dove away as the ceiling came tumbling down. When the dust settled, a large portion of the roof was broken off. A huge hole was now in its place. It gave them a clear view of the hovering alien aircraft above. Both she and Vik rolled into what little cover was left as the aircraft began to strafe the now more open storefront.

"I really hope your friend shows up!" Vik shouted over the increasing fire.

"I know Wrex, he'll be here." She assured the quarian confidently. "He's probably just looking for the best way to make an entrance!"

It was then, almost as if on cue, that Liara heard the booming roar of a krogan carrying through the air. She looked to the rooftops through the hole in the storefront. The alien aircraft was flying low nearby the rooftops at this time, but it didn't block Liara's view of Wrex across the skyline. He sped past the kig-yar snipers, aiming straight for the alien aircraft. He launched himself from the edge of the roof and flew several feet towards his target. He slammed into the vehicle's side with his shoulder, throwing the aircraft into a spin. The craft seemed heavily damaged, but it remained airborne.

Wrex kept himself grasped to the side of the craft best he could. He stomped down on the wing-like appendage beneath him, perhaps hoping it would cause the craft to crash. As the appendage broke loose, however, the vehicle remained aloft. The only change was it seemed to become more unwieldy in the air.

"Fine, Plan B." He reasoned.

The krogan slammed his fist straight into the side of the aircraft, easily breaking through the armour. He pulled out a mess of wires and the aircraft suddenly dipped. Smoking and on fire, Wrex leapt from the vehicle and to the ground just a few feet below. The craft continued to spin out, crashing into a nearby building at the end of the street.

Wrex got to his feet and quickly ran to cover. As he did, the kig-yar snipers on high fired down on him. Their needles did not pursue him for long though. One of the snipers was struck down with a sword clean through his stomach. Materializing behind him was Saya Empa, blade in hand.

The second kig-yar jumped back as the salarian slashed towards him. When Saya next tried to cut him down with an overhead swing, the kig-yar blocked it by holding up his rifle horizontally. The blade struck down on the gun instead of cutting through his head. Saya pulled the sword away and delivered a terrible kick to the side of the alien's face. When the kig-yar tried to fire his weapon at the salarian, Saya artfully dodged the incoming needles, spinning and ducking out of the way of the incoming shots. He rolled forward across the rooftop, slashing out at the side of enemy alien's leg. The kig-yar crumpled to the floor on one knee and tried to turn to catch Saya in the back. Instead a blade caught the kig-yar in the eye, killing him instantly.

"Told you they'd come." Liara told Vik, still looking up at Saya on the roof.

They still had quite a few sangheili to deal with, but the odds had decidedly turned in their favour for the moment. Saya had taken over the former sniper's nest and was now firing on the sangheili on the street. They fired back, but weren't willing to stay out in the open. They fell back down the street, Wrex firing his assault rifle into the retreating crowd. He passed the demolished mod store as Liara and Vik climbed out of what was left of it.

"Sorry about the wait," Wrex apologised as he continued to fire. "Level is crammed with panicking people. We closed in on your transponder, but we got a little lost it seems, ended up on the roof somehow."

More like Wrex wanted to pull off a krogan air-drop, but Liara said nothing. She was just glad he had shown up in time with Saya.

"Point is we have them on the ropes." She told him. "We can end this."

"Cornered varren are just as dangerous as ordinary ones." Wrex warned. "I'll keep them focused here on the right, you and the quarian move up the left side."

Liara did so as, taking Vik with her to the other side of the street. The Covenant were holding their ground again among some benches and signs. With Saya firing on them with his rifle, they were also keeping their heads down. Getting the sangheili out of cover wouldn't be easy, but Liara liked their chances a lot more now than before.

As she and Vik moved up, a series of plasma bolts sliced through the air near them. They both went to ground near a dumpster set up near a small kiosk. Plasma continued to strike the container, melting bits of metal off it.

"Alright, Vik, we can do this." Liara started. "Set up a sentry turret again and keep them down. We can move up to that corner there and get a better angle."

Vik was about to carry out the plan, but he didn't really have the chance. Without warning, an explosion erupted among the sangheili. It wasn't a grenade or rocket. Looking out, Liara saw that it was some kind of biotic flare attack. As the energy dissipated, the cause of the attack was revealed. Stepping out among the devastated street was the familiar violet skinned asari crime lord, Aria T'Loak.

Her attack had thrown three of the sangheili out of cover. They were alive, however, and recovered quickly. They turned their weapons towards the Queen of Omega now, shouting out angry declarations Liara's translator couldn't decipher. Aria barely flinched at the plasma bolts as they sailed past her, easily ducking her head out of the way. She did break into a run eventually and launched a reave attack at one of the Covenant soldiers. The sangheili clutched himself tightly in pain, but it was only a precursor. Aria fried another flare and the detonation it caused when it struck the warp field was enough to finish the sangheili. Their limp bodies were thrown across the street as the biotic aura of the flare faded.

Two more of the remaining sangheili ran forward firing his plasma gun in rapid succession. She rolled away from the bolts and pulled out her shotgun. She aimed at one of the charging aliens and fired a devastating carnage round from the weapon. The blast ripped through the alien's shields and his body. His friend survived, merely shaken by the attack. He kept running at Aria, plasma dagger now at the ready. The asari criminal spun her body away from the lunging attack. The sangheili turned to strike again only for a biotic punch to send him flying.

The last of the sangheili opened up on Aria from his cover, trying to pull back to a nearby shop and escape. He didn't get far before Aria slung out her hand and captured the alien in a lash attack. A strand of biotic energy reached out, grabbed onto the sangheili and pulled him into her. Aria then fired a full thermal clip from her pistol into the helpless Covenant soldier. His dead body fell to the ground moments later.

"Well, that was not the kind of help I expected." Liara said to herself when it was over.

Vik hid himself behind Liara when he spotted Aria. The good doctor accepted he had his reasons, but she still needed to talk to her. She never would've saved her lives without a reason and Liara had to know what it was.

She got her answer as she approached. Wrex followed suit, with Saya bringing up the rear when he dropped down from the rooftops. Aria was currently standing over the last living sangheili, the one she had biotically punched. He now had a shotgun levelled at his forehead.

"What did I tell you about Omega?" She asked the alien with a low growl. "What did I tell you?"

"We do not follow the whims of a petty pirate." The sangheili spoke in defiance as he sat himself up. "We follow a high order, a higher calling than your avaricious existence."

Aria barely contained a sarcastic laugh, still showing no emotion, save for a quiet sense of rage.

"I'm no 'petty' pirate. I'm THE pirate, THE Criminal." She declared. "And on Omega, there is no order higher than mine. You forgot that, so now you're going to serve as an example."

"You only send me to paradise with this murder while your sins weigh your feet in this hell." The sangheili declared. "My brothers will avenge my pass-"

A loud bang silenced the alien, the ring of a powerful shotgun slug cutting him down with ease. Aria rested the smoking weapon to her side.

"I should've made that more painful just because he was so annoying." She said aloud to herself in monotone.

She turned to Liara now, the former archaeologist giving her an accusing look. The conversation had told her everything she needed to know. She was not happy with what she had learned.

"You knew about them." She said simply. "You and the Covenant were working together."

"Hardly," Aria replied defensively as she holstered her shotgun. "It was a business arrangement, nothing more. And they just broke the terms of our contract in any case."

Liara crossed her arms, not seemingly convinced by Aria's denial.

"What contract?" She asked accusingly.

Aria sighed, almost annoyed, and continued.

"They wanted easy access to the black market for supplies, a place to dock discreetly and somewhere they could meet with specific contacts in the underworld safely." Aria explained. "The deal was simple, I let them do so and ask no questions, as long as they give me some of their weapons and keep whatever agendas they were working towards away from the station. That meant they make sure it doesn't come back to me and they don't start a firefight on my watch."

Aria looked over to Vik now, who was trying to keep himself hidden behind Liara.

"And apparently, one of those agendas involved a certain someone," she spoke up, a venomous tone in her voice. She then turned to Liara. "Of course, I should've expected as much with you involved looking for the little idiot."

"If we had known they were here we could've planned for it." Liara told her adamantly.

"I didn't even know they were of interest to you." Aria answered back with her voiced raised slightly. "Then again, you always seem to show up when mysterious aliens are lurking about. So maybe I should've anticipated your connection, however hostile it was."

Aria looked back at Vik, who was peeking out behind Liara's shoulder.

"You're making me regret I didn't kill you, quarian." She said coldly.

"I didn't mean to get shot at today, ma'am," Vik weakly protested, walking out slightly from behind Liara. "I'm sorry."

Liara quickly stepped in to defend Vik, putting herself once again between the quarian and the Omega Queen.

"You can't blame Vik for what these aliens did." She told her adamantly. "He's not responsible for their rampage across your station."

"Yes," Aria seemed to agree, "I suppose you're more to blame than him."

Liara glared slightly at Aria as she continued.

"I have several dead in two separate sections of this level. There are ten business fronts, including that Mod Shop over there and one of the local drinking holes, now shot to pieces. All of them by the way either owe me protection money or a cut of the profits. Now, granted, it's barely a pinprick in my assorted income, but it's still my money." Aria explained thoroughly. "You're lucky I didn't particularly like that turian who owned the bar though, I think he was taking more than his required cut. I still have to repair the damages, however, and a bunch of random crazy aliens doing my work for me doesn't help my reputation with the local population. I'm supposed to enforce matters within my businesses, not get outside help."

It was Aria's way of saying she could be angrier than she was now. It also somewhat answered her main question.

"That's why you had to step in and save us." Liara surmised. "You can't have someone executing people in the streets when they're not doing it on your orders. You can't let others get the idea that they can start running things without your say or making you look like you can't protect your own business ventures."

"Precisely," Aria answered simply, "there may be only one rule on Omega, but it carries a lot of weight and I need to show people why it matters."

So, at least for now, they had Aria on their side. How long that would last, Liara wasn't sure. She still was in the dark about something though.

"How long have the Covenant been operating here?" She asked her.

"About three weeks or so," Aria answered simply. "They behaved themselves until now, although I admit they started getting into places they probably shouldn't have awhile back. They were skulking around the back alleys down here for one. I also sometimes caught them in my security systems. I looked the other way though because they weren't stealing credits from me, otherwise they'd all be dead already."

That proved it. The Covenant had been coming and going from here long before Vik had posted that picture. They couldn't have been here just for that, nor attacked Vik because of that one posting. There had to be another reason they wanted to kill him.

It was then Liara heard the sound of another one of those flying machines. She turned to see it coming in from down the street. Saya looked through his scope down the street and then passed it to Liara, pointing it down range. She saw another squad worth of Covenant, kig-yar and sangheili in it. They were definitely the reinforcements for their now dead comrades. She handed the rifle back to Saya and turned to Aria.

"It looks like they still need to learn that rule." Liara told her.

"Predictable." Aria sighed, pulling out her pistol. "Let's end this quickly if we can."

They rushed past the destroyed mod shop and took cover within a parking lot for aircars in the center of the promenade. As the Covenant got close, Wrex was the first to open up, firing a barrage of assault rifle fire. The shots bounced off the shields, but it forced them to seek shelter. Saya opened up with his sniper rifle. Equipped with disruptor rounds, the rifle's rounds cut through the shields with ease. One shot caught a sangheili in the face. He reached up to clutch his eye as another shot hit him center mass, taking him down for good.

Not to be outdone, Wrex switched to his shotgun and fired a carnage shot at a group of kig-yar. Their shields absorbed the shot, but they seemed to be shut down from the force of the impact. Wrex was delighted at the sight of a clear shot, so he got ready to aim again. Except Saya beat him to it, firing three clean shots that killed the kig-yar with ease. That earned the salarian a glare from Wrex.

"You know, we have a rule about taking kills on Tuchanka." He warned.

Saya didn't seem to listen as he kept firing on the Covenant. Wrex just shook his head annoyed and went back to defending.

Vik dropped a sentry turret early on, letting it pepper the Covenant as they approached. One sangheili brushed off the shots, even as his shields died. He bounded over the aircars, plasma sword in hand, and sliced the turret apart. He went straight for Vik, he pulled his shotgun up and fired two clean shots at the charging alien out of fear. The sangheili's blood spilled across the parked vehicles and the alien slipped down onto the tarmac below and right at Vik's feet. The quarian stood there shaking for a moment, as blood pooled onto his feet. If he had pulled the trigger a half second later, he'd have been dead. It was hard not to hyperventilate at that fact a bit.

Wrex saw the quarian frozen up and pushed his head back down before a furious barrage of plasma could do it for him. He shook the quarian vigorously.

"Wake up, princess." He ordered. "We still got a fight to win."

Vik tried his best to get over his shakes, but it wasn't easy to grip the gun again. He turned to his omni-tool and readied another sentry.

"Maybe I should've taken my meds today." He mumbled half scared.

Liara and Aria tossed out biotic throws one after the other. It wasn't easy to keep the Covenant back with the strategy, as it only seemed to knock them down for a bit. Liara set down a singularity in the path of a few sangheili, trapping them in the field long enough for Aria to fire a carnage shot into their ranks. It killed one with a direct hit, but the others just got up and began searching for cover among the aircars.

"We're going to need a bigger explosion." Liara told her fellow asari.

A green blast rocked the parking lot just then. Aria looked up to see the Covenant's air support hovering above them. She gave it a sinister little grin and then put her gun away. She backed up from her cover slightly and then swung out a powerful lash attack from each of her hands. The biotic leashes grabbed the aircraft, encasing it in a blue aura. With a heavy grunting heave, Aria pulled the aircraft down to the ground and caused it to crash among the assorted aircars. The explosion rocked the ground and killed several Covenant, their bodies incinerated by the blast or thrown into mangled heaps.

The sangheili and kig-yar that remained looked on through the flames for a moment, before something emerged from the smoke and fire. It was Aria, Liara and Wrex by her side. She had no weapon in her hands, but the latter two kept theirs trained on the alien horde. There were only a few of the Covenant left now, all of them kig-yar who hadn't run forward with the sangheili. They glared at the assorted group.

"This was not part of our arrangement," Aria announced coldly as she stepped casually over the dead body of a sangheili. "I told you to keep your machinations and plans away from my station, from my business."

"This took precedence over the deal." One of the kig-yar tried to explain. "Look, the sangheilis are dead, we can resolve this easy. Simply give us the sickly suited one and we leave."

"The thing is you people are going to be leaving here either way now." Aria replied unmoved by the demand. "You've destroyed half this level and made a nuisance of yourselves. I have no desire to continue doing business with you zealots. So, explain to me why I should do anything for you?"

The kig-yar simply pointed his weapon at her, as did his comrades.

"We kill you and burn this station to ashes!" He threatened. "How's that?"

"Well isn't that just adorable." Aria laughed. "You actually still think you can win? I would admire that determination, if it wasn't so patently misinformed. You see, you have no air support anymore. I've already had your dock locked down by my men so you can't call in those ugly purple ships of yours. And as for me..."

Aria pressed down on her omni-tool with her thumb, activating a command button. Moments later two gunships rose up from behind the ledge to their right. Their cannons and missiles were aimed squarely at the Covenant positions.

"I called them in as soon as I saw you all running up the street." She explained. "They informed me they just arrived about two seconds after I brought your friend here down from the sky."

Aria pointed back at the burning hulk of an aircraft, lying in the burning lot behind her. The kig-yar seemed to get the message, but he still bartered.

"We'll leave what remains of our weapons if-"

"You don't get it. I'm just going take them." Aria interrupted. "You have nothing to offer me. So here's how it's going to work. You're going to walk back to the dock under escort from my people. You're going to take one of your three big purple shuttles you showed up here with, leave everything else behind and never come back to Omega again."

"And?" The kig-yar asked, his weapon still pointed at her.

"And then I don't shoot you all dead on this street." Aria answered back curtly.

It took only another moment for the kig-yar to lower his gun and drop it to the ground. Aria smiled proudly as the other Covenant did the same.

"You're gonna pay for this." The kig-yar threatened still.

"I never pay for anything I've already gotten free of charge." Aria answered back. She then got on her comm-link. "Send enforcers to my position. I need to get some trash off my station."

* * *

The Covenant were gone and the fires put out. A few emergency workers were cordoning off the area, helping wounded and assisting in general clean up. Liara looked over it all in despair. She had never expected this much trouble just from going to Omega. The Covenant had proven themselves ruthless, merciless and without regard for innocent bystanders. It had gotten pretty bad. All of this just to save one quarian. Not that Liara regretted saving his life, he was as caught up in this unfortunate circumstance as any of them.

For better or worse, they owed Aria a debt for getting them out of this alive. It probably would've gone a lot worse without her sudden last minute intervention. However, among the devastated remains of the level's marketplace and the dead bodies that littered the streets, many of them who apparently owed her money, Aria didn't appreciate their gratitude. She was with two of her armed thugs as she stared down Liara and her team.

"You've cost me a lot of my time and money, T'Soni." She stated. "I should've known letting you have even an iota of free reign on this station was a bad idea."

"You're the one who let a bunch of fanatics come aboard." Liara shot back. "Maybe you should pick your business partners better."

"You also made this rampage worse by leading them on a chase." Aria added tersely. "A lot of people died just so you could save that blubbering idiot you're apparently so fond of protecting."

All eyes turned to Vik, who didn't like the extra attention as he backed up slightly from the assembled line. Liara was unapologetic regardless.

"If you're referring to the thugs in the bar, I don't feel sorry for them." She stated. "If they had just let us slip out the back they'd probably all still be alive. Plus, they antagonized the Covenant, like most of the dead did."

"Most of them got involved unnecessarily, yes, but not all." Aria declared. "Take a look for a moment."

The Omega Queen pointed towards a stack of bodies, two of whom were humans. They were a middle aged woman and man, lying dead from plasma burns. Liara suddenly realised, that Sangheili who was firing indiscriminately before, she had been mistaken. He wasn't firing off shots at random, those humans were his target. He took time out from the fight... just to kill humans. Kayap had mentioned the hatred they had for them, but that was just insane.

"Why do you care about that?" Liara asked back at Aria, looking her dead set in the eyes.

"I don't, but I expected that one of Shepard's friends would." Aria charged. "It's just a little lesson from me about how your actions have consequences and why you shouldn't feel so unmoved by them. I'm not the only one you hurt today."

Admittedly, Liara felt a bit sick at the knowledge. She had indirectly put those people in harm's way. She knew that. But she wouldn't show it. She wouldn't let Aria get the last word here. So she turned it around.

"What about your actions?" She asked. "The Covenant will be back. You're going to be on the top of their list of people they want to see fall."

"They can certainly try to attack Omega." Aria shrugged unconcerned. "The Terminus Fleet will probably kill them all first though. So I'm not worried."

"You'll still need a leg up on them." Liara told her. "Information about what they can do, their weapons, their ships, the other aliens they have with them. I can provide that and maybe even keep them focused more on me than you, for a price."

Aria didn't flinch or even raise an eyebrow, but she sounded intrigued by the offer.

"What do you propose?" She asked.

"You keep me updated on the underworld. Tell me about any possible connections to the Covenant through various criminal organizations and groups if you find out about them." Liara explained. "Keep me informed about any developments with them you discover and I'll make sure to handle them for you. The Covenant won't bother attacking you if I'm the one making all the trouble."

Aria thought it over for a moment before shrugging and relenting to the offer.

"If you honestly want to keep going after these fanatics, be my guest. I'll keep you in the loop. Who knows, maybe you'll kill yourself in the process of me helping you." She reasoned. "Either way, you stay away from Omega, from now on."

"I'd be happy to." Liara agreed wholeheartedly.

Aria seemed about to leave, but she suddenly looked over to Vik with a grave frown upon her features.

"I want you off Omega in the next twenty four hours." She told the quarian. "Otherwise, I'm throwing you out, through the airlock."

Vik gulped and he tried to speak up, but the words died in his throat as the asari glared at him.

"He's not responsible for this either, Aria." Liara said. "You can't blame him for what the Covenant did."

"They only went wild because they wanted to kill him for some reason." Aria explained. "I don't care what he did to set them off. I want him gone. Plain and simple."

Aria began to walk away, stopping briefly in front of Wrex. The krogan stared back at her in response. Aria remained silent for a good twenty seconds as she looked him over.

"You seem familiar." She said. "Have I ever tried to kill you before?"

"Possible, I know a lot of asari who tried to kill me." Wrex replied.

Aria placed her hand up to her chin and cocked her head. She then just huffed at it all, her face remaining as stone.

"I suppose I was mistaken." She sighed regretfully. "I've fought so many Krogan sometimes the faces blur a bit. You just reminded me of someone for a second."

"I hope he's as good-looking." Wrex chuckled.

"Not really, but he was almost as smart." Aria admitted nonchalantly. "I don't think you're him though, too bad."

Aria continued to walk away, looking back for a brief second.

"Too bad your stay on Omega turned out so badly, Krogan." She stated. "Better luck next time, I guess."

Liara could've sworn saw a slight smirk on Aria's face as she left. She wasn't sure if Wrex did. Neither had long to ponder it, as Vik spoke up.

"I guess I better start packing up everything in my apartment back onto my roundabout shuttle." He said aloud. "Well, what's left anyway. Thanks for saving me, Doctor."

Vik began to walk away as well, but Liara didn't let him get far.

"Wait," she said calling out. "We could still use your help."

Vik stopped dead in his tracks, looking back at her.

"I can just get you a copy of all my files on the Hegemony and you can sift through them if that's what you mean."

"No, I mean actual help." Liara corrected him. "You can join the _Lucen's_ crew, like I said before."

The quarian looked confused at the suggestion.

"I thought you just said we were going to your ship because you need to take me some place safe so you could question me further." Vik said sounding befuddled. "What with all the shooting and the crazy alien assassins chasing us..."

"I'll admit I wasn't looking to recruit you at first." Liara informed him. "But we could use the extra technical expertise."

Wrex just groaned aloud upon Liara's words.

"Liara, do we have to?" He asked.

"He knows Hegemony systems and how to break them, Wrex. He's an expert hacker and engineer, maybe rough around the edges and unhinged, but he's not an idiot. We need his information on the Swords and Balak and taking him along would be easier than sorting through his files by ourselves." She listed off for the krogan rapidly. "Besides, if the Covenant finds him again, he won't last five minutes against them. He's on their hit list. He needs protection. Shepard wouldn't turn someone away when they need help."

Wrex still shook his head with a sigh. But he looked to Vik anyway.

"I suppose we do have room on the ship." He admitted.

Vik stepped back over to them, still surprised by the offer.

"Really? You want me to join you in fighting these aliens?" He asked confused. "You want my help? No one ever wants my help."

"If the Swords are working for the Hegemony and using their codes, and if you can crack them, then yes we can use your help." Liara told him. "But we need to know if you'll be committed to this, perhaps even putting your board on hold when we need you in the field."

"If it means I finally get to stick it to those slaving fascist bosh'tets in the Hegemony," Vik replied, slamming his fist into his palm with righteous fury. "Then yeah, I'm in, Doctor T'Soni."

"You can just call me Liara." She assured him, stretching out her hand for him to shake. "Welcome to the crew, Vik'Sajee."

The quarian eagerly took her hand and shook it joyfully. She was worried for a second he was going to pull it from her socket.

"Now then," she said when she eventually wrenched her hand free. "Let's get your stuff then."

"I just need to get it all back to my shuttle and I can park it in your hanger." Vik told her happily. "It shouldn't take more than a few minutes, tops."

Another new face added to her steadily growing crew. This one, a little quarian who apparently knew too much and had needed saving in the bowels of a space station. Once again, just as Aria said, it really did sound familiar. She was just happy that this time she could be around for this part of the adventure.

* * *

Aria sat on her couch in her club, staring at the feed in front of her. The Covenant had been stuffed back aboard their transport and were now leaving the station. Good riddance to bad rubbish in her mind. At least she kept the majority of their technology. Perhaps something could even be salvaged from the wrecks of those two aircraft in the lower levels.

In the end though, despite T'Soni setting all this off, she was happy to be rid of them. This Covenant had been boisterous, loud, spiteful and self-righteous in all their dealings. She liked working with racists even less. Running this business had taught her to never judge a person by the colour of their skin, the place of their birth or even their different amino acids. It all came down to how you were inside really, as cliché as it sounded. That and how many credits you could offer. In the end, the Covenant weren't worth dealing with to be honest.

T'Soni had been right about one thing though, the Covenant would come back once they heard the news. She wasn't about to be embroiled in a conflict with these aliens and was more than happy to let the good Doctor take the heat. She didn't enjoy making a deal with her, but she did admire T'Soni's determination. How much of Shepard had rubbed off her was anyone's guess.

However, despite her best efforts, she had failed to hide that tiny weakness of hers. She had seen it in the little asari's eyes, compassion. It drove her to save that quarian. She could see it in her eyes when she spotted the dead human couple. She may have been trying to hide it, but she wasn't quite ready for the cold, harsh real world. Her empathy would be the end of her. As for Aria, she had no time for that liability inherent emotion, especially not with her current concerns.

She watched the Covenant ship begin to slip away from her station. As it flew away, she turned to Anto.

"Did they plant it?" She asked him.

"Didn't take long to rig up, boss." He assured her as he passed a remote to her. "Whenever you're ready."

She couldn't let these sangheili reach their masters and inform them of how she had turned on them. With any luck, they'd assume T'Soni killed them all. She was not about to get Omega embroiled in a pointless war, even if she knew she'd eventually win. It wasn't good for business. She had promised not to kill the Covenant while they were within the station. She had said nothing about their safety after they left.

Regardless, she still had make an example for others to recognize.

"One rule," She stated plainly as she stared at the screen.

She pressed down on the trigger and watched as the alien dropship exploded into a ball of fire in the vast empty void.

"Don't fuck with Aria."

* * *

AN: I'm guessing some of you were wondering when she'd say it, eh?

Anyway, I really enjoyed writing Aria this chapter. It's such a blast to do a person who knows how powerful she is and doesn't really give a crap letting others know it. I was pretty much sold on her the instant I met her in Omega in 2 and was really looking forward to helping her take it back in 3. Before you ask, I did enjoy that DLC, save for some elements of the ending. For those disappointed Aria didn't join the crew, don't worry, this won't be the last time we see her. But you can't expect the Queen of Omega to drop everything she's got going on to save the galaxy. After all, what's in it for her?

So this chapter was important to me for one reason, Vik'Sajee. He's a quarian I made for an RPG a good while ago. Unfortunately, you can only do so much in an RPG like the one I joined and introduced him to. That's fine and all, and I don't mean to mix my peas with my carrots here, but I kinda wanted to use him again with a few more liberties on my part. That, and probably see how he goes over with you fine people.

I'll have more on this chapter in my profiles page where I'll properly expand on some things. For now, please leave a review and do feel free to visit/add to Guilty Sparks' new TV Tropes page. The link is on my profile and now here: /Fanfic/GuiltySparks

Just type that into the main TV Tropes page and you should be good.

Next chapter, we'll finish off this portion of Liara's sub-plot with some more revelations about what the Covies are doing in the ME-Verse. And after that, we'll return to Halo and see about finally saving Jack and Joker.


	10. Bad Medicine

Chapter 9: Bad Medicine

**July 30****th****, 2185**

Vik's shuttle was, and this was putting it mildly, out of place in the pristine design of _The Lucen's_ hanger deck. The ship was a CT-68 Kilixen Runabout Shuttle, a really old, oversized shuttle built for a small family to go on camping trips. It had been popular for awhile, but was quickly replaced with sleeker, less ugly models that had better mileage. The CT-68 had been retired and wasn't even seen as a collector's piece even if it was pristine.

Vik's shuttle has no doubt seen better days, although when those days were was anyone's guess at this point. It was dirty, scratched, dented and possessed a slowly cracking paint job. That wasn't even mentioning the scorch marks on the nose and engine thrusters. How the quarian was keeping this thing running, Liara couldn't tell. All she could see was the spray painted word on the nose of the shuttle, "Truth." He had named his shuttle, "Truth." For some reason she wasn't all that surprised.

The ugly hunk of metal that served as a spacecraft had first floated into the hanger sputtering from its engine as it landed. Vik said he would sleep in it, like he did most of the time when he was on his own. The deckhands tried to get it to stay in one of the hanger docking clamps where the shuttles were supposed to stay in, but the "Truth" was far too big. It would have to remain on the floor, pushed off to the side against a wall. Liara appreciated that she wouldn't have to bother getting the quarian a room, but the shuttle was still an eyesore.

It was bulky, its cockpit was bloated, the engine was loud, even when it wasn't gasping for life whenever Vik turned it on or off, and in general its design was just ugly. The giant nose of the craft, coupled with the extra width and those decorative little wings on top that served to offer extra stability to the ship all just screamed excessive. It no doubt served as a decent home away from home, but couldn't they have tried to make it look less like an oversized stuffed bird that still thought it could fly?

While the ship was an unpleasant looking thing, her owner was desperately trying not to seem a nuisance. He asked if Liara needed an extra engineer or tech analyst. Those were all fine and good suggestions for him to help out with, of course, but they weren't important right now. She told him she just needed him working on those files of his. She needed him to find what the Swords and the Covenant were so desperate to kill him over.

He got to work pretty quickly, closing himself off inside his ship as he looked through his files and did whatever else he was doing in there. Liara had no cameras on board Vik's shuttle and she didn't intend to impede on his privacy. And knowing his paranoia he probably spent his first hour aboard the ship looking for any bugs in his shuttle anyway. It would've been a pointless exercise if she tried. Besides, she wanted him to trust her. That was going to be crucial if they were going to be shipmates.

She gave him a day to settle in before going down to see him proper. She figured he'd need the time to work and it had been a long day, being chased by assassins and all. She knocked on the shuttle's hatch a few times and it opened with a loud groaning hiss, Vik pushing it open as he did.

"I'm going to have to lubricate that again." He said sounding annoyed as he looked at the door's mechanism. He then turned back to Liara "Hey, Doctor T'Soni. I've been expecting you."

Inviting her inside the shuttle, Liara found herself in a similar situation to Vik's apartment. The inside was a mess of papers and data pads and the entire wall in front of her was loaded with pictures and that familiar board resided in the middle of them. He wasn't joking about needing that board before. It seemed to be the centerpiece to his whole paranoid delusion... whatever that delusion was exactly.

Off to the left side was a little kitchen in the corner with a small fridge, cupboard and a sink. Also a food filtration device on the counter top, used to decontaminate food of potential pesticides and toxins. There was also a tiny little stove beside the sink. Beyond that kitchen was a bedroom, or what passed for one. It was a bunk bed in the back corner. She could barely see it through the open sliding door. Its mechanism was obviously broken.

To the left of that, along a wall, was a small closet and shelf packed with paperback books of various titles. A lot of them were underground or counter-culture, almost all had titles about various conspiracies. "Dirty Deeds on Noveria: What They Don't Want You to Know!" and "Hierarchy Black Ops: False Flags, Assassinations, Coups and More!" were two examples.

The right side led to a cockpit, as well as a small desk with a rather decently comfortable looking chair, a terminal on top of the desk and a holoscreen embedded into the wall right over it. Vik probably used it to watch movies or holovision when he wasn't busy working.

"I know it doesn't look all that impressive, but its home." Vik spoke up humbly. "And it gets me from Starport A to Starport B... with relatively decent gas mileage."

"How exactly do you keep this thing running?" She asked, honestly wishing to know.

"My people have been flying ships that are over three hundred years old by now." Vik explained. "I can handle a close to thirty year old junker. It comes with the territory. Getting replacement parts, fuel and such isn't always so easy, however. I have to take an odd job or two now and again just to make due."

"That can't be easy given the status of quarians in the galaxy." Liara observed.

Vik just nodded as he picked up one of his papers and moved over to his board to place it within his web of conspiracies.

"I get terminated with barely minimum wage a lot, yeah." Vik admitted. "Mind you, a lot of folks are happy to have me on the job, but just as many people see me and other quarians as temporary solutions. They don't like giving us too much money because they hate the idea of us sending it back to the fleet. The old 'minorities ruin economies' thing people use to justify discrimination is still alive and well. I'd stay away from the Terminus as it's worse than Citadel Space, but there are more job offerings open and most people here can't be as picky."

Vik finally put the paper somewhere on the board. Liara gave it a quick read and saw that it was an article on suppression of some political protests on a Turian colony. The headline read 'Workers Strike gets heated on Gothis!' Vik had drawn lines to a number of similar Hierarchy police actions, as well as a story about a steadily increasing military budget.

"A holoscreen would probably make organizing this project of yours easier." Liara told him rather bluntly. "It certainly wouldn't be as messy."

"Yeah, but I need it to be like this." Vik explained scratching the back of his neck, slightly uneasy as he spoke. "It's, uh, well I gotta feel the evidence, I guess. I need to touch it and see the strands that connect it all. You don't get that with a holoscreen, doesn't feel right."

Liara perched a curious eyebrow at his explanation.

"That sounds a bit obsessive compulsive, if you don't mind me saying." Liara told him, sounding troubled by it all.

Vik could only shrug at the comment, seemingly unoffended.

"I don't pretend it makes sense to others." Vik admitted plainly. "It just makes sense to me and that's what counts in the end."

"I suppose we are all entitled to our quirks." Liara replied back, trying to sound accepting. "It makes us unique."

She turned her head, spotting something in the corner of her eye. It was another pill bottle, like in the apartment. This one was full, however. The cap was still off the top though. Liara picked it up along with the cap and closed it.

"What exactly do these do?" She asked Vik with a concerned look.

Vik turned back to Liara from his board, his shoulders slumping.

"They're special suppressant agents." He explained hesitantly. "They reduce mental susceptibility to panic attacks, flashes, spasms, severe headaches and other things. The pills are supposed to keep me calm and my mind from wandering too much."

"So why'd you stop taking them for so long?" Liara asked him once more.

Vik took a moment to answer, timidly rubbing his hands together.

"It's complicated," he tried to explain, his two slender fingers scratching at his suit. "They make it hard to think straight, I can't focus as much on my work, they dull me. I usually take the required dosage every now and again, but I haven't been doing it as much lately. You need to think, keep sharp, especially on Omega. You can't be dulled or you're dead."

After what had happened down there she couldn't exactly argue with his point. She had seen the side effects of him not taking the medication though. He froze up and broke down, his fear overtaking him. It must've taken all his strength not to run again when that final charge came rushing at them. Vik seemed a lot more at ease now though, which meant he was on the pills again.

"If you don't like them so much, why'd you change your mind?" She asked him.

"I figured it would be more professional if I wasn't jabbering like an idiot." Vik explained. "I haven't had a captain in awhile, but I remember I'm supposed to show respect to him or her. That means proper conduct."

Liara smirked a little.

"And here I thought you had problems with authority." She observed.

"Just corrupt authority." Vik clarified. "There may be only ten percent of people in power who aren't bosh'tets, but they do exist, however rare they are."

With any luck, Vik saw her as that ten percent. Regardless, precautions would be needed.

"Well, if you're serving on this ship you'll need to keep taking those pills of yours," Liara told him with a stern look. "I want you to take at least enough of a dose to allow you to think freely without going off the rails while we're in the field. Understood?"

"You saved my life and gave me a place to stay, plus you're also a doctor so I'm not in any position to say no," Vik replied before giving a salute. "I promise to keep up with my prescription, ma'am."

With that, Liara put down the pill bottle and moved on to her next topic.

"Now that is clear, there's still one other matter," she said as she crossed her arms. "Why aren't you with the Flotilla?"

It took a bit longer for him to answer that one. He walked to his work area and sat down at the terminal. Liara walked up alongside him, still waiting for an answer as she leaned back against the shuttle's wall.

"I'm not on Pilgrimage," he admitted, looking rather sullen. "But I'm not an exile. I just... left."

Liara raised an eyebrow.

"You can do that?" She asked.

"Every quarian is free to stay or go if they want." He explained. "It's just more advisable you stay. Strength in numbers, family, all that. But, I couldn't stay. It wasn't safe."

"For you?" Liara pressed further.

"For everyone." Vik clarified, still sounding gloomy. "I was putting people at risk just by being around them, so I left. I got into some..."

He paused there, seemingly unsure of what to say next. He started bobbing his head up and down. His breathing became more erratic, but only for a moment. As soon as he settled himself, he continued.

"My Pilgrimage didn't go so well and I got into some trouble. I saw some bad things, learned a lot of harsh truths about how the galaxy works," he said, doing his best to just get the words out. "I was afraid that was going to catch up to my family and the Flotilla, so I ran. And I've been doing that for... three years now."

Three years on his own? And he had been living out of this crappy shuttle the whole time? It was certainly not unheard of for quarians to squeak by off of charity and the goodwill of others, and a lot of pilgrimages took years from how Tali told it. But Vik had put himself into self-imposed exile because he was afraid someone was trying to hurt him. Whether it was true or another delusion, Liara didn't want to pry too much on that point.

"What about your family?" She asked him. "Do they know where you are?"

The quarian shook his head sadly.

"Last time I saw or talked to my dad was three years ago," Vik answered, his voice pained with regret. "We were on good terms then, I bet he hates me now. Or he thinks I'm dead. I have a cousin, too. Dad and my uncle were born during a population decline, so an extra quarian mouth to feed was welcome. I'm probably one of a few quarians who are lucky enough to even have a cousin. She's pretty much the closest thing to a sister I have. Or had. At this point she probably hopes she never sees me again."

"Why's that?" Liara asked him confused.

"Because I left the Fleet without telling them why or even that I was leaving in the first place," Vik spat out, sounding angry at himself more than anything. "I just left. I thought it would be better that way for some stupid reason. Shows what I knew."

Vik's head slumped down as he finished speaking. His posture as he leaned into his terminal's monitor signified shame and disappointment. This wasn't a topic he enjoyed speaking about, especially if he was being stingy on details. Liara decided to let it go for now, she had gotten what she needed. Vik wasn't an exile. That was all that mattered right now. If anything that meant he'd be loyal to his crew, and if he felt he was part of the _Lucen_, then they had nothing to fear.

With that in mind, and the fact she was down here for other reasons, she changed the subject.

"I'm sorry for troubling you with that," she said, somewhat apologetically. "How about we talk about your progress on finding out why Balak sent those Covenant to kill you?"

Vik's mood changed abruptly, happy to once again ignore his past it seemed. Sitting at attention, he quickly scrambled to pull up files on the terminal's screen. His six fingers dashed across the command console and touch screen as he pulled up several documents.

"It wasn't easy to pinpoint what set them off," Vik admitted as he worked. "I frequent so many anti-Hegemony extranet sites that it's hard to narrow down the list of things that they may have seen. They monitor all of them you know. Any one of my posts could've pissed them off."

"It would have to be something fairly recent to put you on a list and big enough to attract their attention." Liara surmised.

"I was thinking the same thing," Vik agreed, looking back to her. "So I retraced my steps in cyberspace over the past couple of days. I think they may have used my posting about the ship to narrow down their search for me like you did, and getting into Aria's security helped them figure out where I was. So anything after the date I posted the picture was ruled out. I also checked to see if anything I posted got censored or taken down by a hack attempt of some kind. Eventually, my search turned up a post I made that got deleted, but the source of the deletion was not from the site's admins. I back-up my work just in case something like that happens, however, so it doesn't matter. I got a copy of the short article I posted right here."

Vik turned the terminal around and reveal a blog posting with a number of pictures scattered among the words. It showed what appeared to be a press conference at some building, headed by a Batarian in an official looking suit. The picture had been ripped from an article from the only media outlet the Hegemony allowed to be based outside of their space, The Imperial Galactic Chronicle. The headline read aloud; 'New Genetic Advancements by Batarian Medical Scientists put Alliance to Shame!'

Liara looked to Vik so he could elaborate.

"A few years ago the Batarian-owned Charlan Medical Research Center on Anhur has claimed to be making strides in a number of fields, mainly in genetic engineering," The quarian explained. "It's mostly the routine stuff, gene therapy and the improvement of physical capabilities. The article here details that they recently found a way to increase natural biological resistances to toxins in the atmosphere, as well as durability in arctic environments. The biggest selling point for the facility is that they claim to do it all without the use of slaves."

"They don't exactly have a choice in the matter. Anhur made slavery illegal back when the Anhur Rebellions ended in 2178." Liara recalled. "Why would batarians brag about being forced to forgo slavery?"

"A lot of people see batarians using slavery as a crutch." Vik explained with a slightly mocking tone. "Especially on Anhur which boasts an equally as high human population alongside the batarians. The common belief is batarians can't function if they don't have slaves. So Charlan claims they don't need them to outdo the Alliance and that they can function just as well with slavery abolished. A 'testament to batarian ingenuity' they say."

Vik grunted a sarcastic huff as he finished his sentence. Clearly he didn't buy the Chronicles' story. And honestly, Liara didn't either.

"So what's really going on in Charlan?" She asked him.

"One, they're still using slaves as lab rats for their science experiments." Vik claimed. "And two, their plans go beyond just regular everyday gene therapy. You know how Citadel Law prohibits adding things into the genetic structure? That you can only improve what is already there? That you can't give people tails or wings or feathers that they don't have? That's what they're doing there."

"That's a pretty bold claim, Vik." Liara told him, resting her back more firmly against the wall. "I assume you have proof of it."

Vik nodded and pulled up another file.

"I was suspicious of the place so I did some digging." He began. "Ever since the Charlan facility opened, there have been a number of steadily increasing missing persons reports from the human settlements on Anhur. More recently, there's been a lot of heavy ship traffic coming to the planet from the Terminus Systems and many of the ship's descriptions match known slaver vessels from there. I figured that out when I cross referenced the daily shipping manifesto. They don't say they're carrying slaves as cargo of course, but the registries match."

Vik pulled up the manifesto. He had indeed done his homework, many of the registry numbers matched known slave-ships in the Terminus. Slavery was of course legal for the most part in the Terminus Systems, but it was suspicious for them to go to Anhur, a non-slave colony. So Vik may have been onto something about using slaves as guinea pigs, but that didn't prove that they were doing illegal genetic research. There was also the other problem.

"How exactly did you get the shipping manifesto for the Anhur Docks?" She asked.

"I broke their shitty security system." Vik stated at a rapid pace. "All I had to do was send a virus in one of those 'You may already be a winner' emails to one of the employee terminals. The dumb bosh'tet opened it and after that I had the run of the place for a good hour before they flushed me out of the system. Does it matter? That's kid's stuff compared to this!"

Liara had also done far worse, so she wasn't going to argue. She just needed to be sure he had gotten this without hurting anyone. At least not physically, she doubted the poor person who opened that message was still employed there. It was a bit disturbing Vik didn't seem to empathise, but he was on too much of a roll right now to think about that fact much from the looks of it. He was already bringing up another file for her to look at. This one looked like an internal office memo with the Charlan Center's logo plastered on top.

"After I figured out slave ships were headed to Anhur, I travelled the Amun system directly for a more personal touch." Vik began to explain. "Using the local comm-buoys as relays nodes I was able to get into Charlan's internal mainframe and uploaded a worm program. Unfortunately, I underestimated their internal security. Once they found out about the worm they quickly moved to isolate it. I needed to pull the plug or they would've tracked me down. I thought the whole exercise had been a waste, but before I initiated the worm's self-destruct runtime, it transmitted an intercepted message from the higher-ups."

Liara looked more carefully at the memo and began to read it aloud.

"We are pleased with the progress on 'Project: God Worm'." Liara read with growing interest. "New specimens will be arriving soon for final phase. If acidic compound melds as well as the bio-armour, and our benefactors are pleased with the results, we will begin final distribution. Also, concerning our other priority, with the biological agents proving a success, we feel it is imperative that we move to stage two. Our off-site facilities will continue where we left off. You must now focus all attention on the other as vital experiments that have fallen behind expected parameters."

It was vague, but the implications were there. The batarians were probably performing illegal genetic experiments at Charlan. This was potentially big stuff.

"Why didn't you go to the media with this?" Liara asked Vik curiously.

"Well I tried," he admitted with a sigh. "But when you're a grubby little quarian who has no press credentials, contacts or pull in the mainstream media, people tend to think you're unreliable source. Especially when you have a bit of a reputation online for talking about how the Eclipse Mercenaries and the Turian Biotic Cabals have worked together on a number of Black-Ops to protect Hierarchy Interests in the Traverse."

"Conspiracy theorists do tend to make news media and governments uneasy." Liara agreed, remembering how much trouble they had with the Council on the Reapers.

Vik nodded in agreement, interpreting what Liara had just said as recognition of a kindred spirit.

"Yeah, it's even worse when you talk about their corporate sponsors and how they make half of their profits by denying funding to other forms of space travel and fuel economy." He declared righteously. "If we invested more in fusion core and fuel cell technology we'd be able to cut our helium-3 consumptions in half, but the Big Gas companies can't have that now can they? That's their money pit after all."

They were getting off topic, best to nudge Vik back onto the right path.

"So, the media rejected your evidence then?" She asked him.

"Like I said, they didn't trust me as a source." Vik reiterated. "They didn't want to stake their reputations on an indistinct office memo and the hunch of a 'buckethead.' So I turned to less than conventional means through my regular post sites. And when the Hegemony found out I had posted it, they scrubbed the article and eventually traced it back to me on Omega. We both know the rest of the story from there."

Vik certainly had some compelling evidence that this was what the Covenant were trying to cover up, but they needed to be sure. Liara thought she had an idea of how to figure that out. The memo had suggested other projects were going on at Charlan. And if their "benefactors" were who she thought they were, maybe someone on this ship could confirm Vik's little conspiracy theory for him.

"Vik, follow me." Liara began, looking to the quarian with a sly little smile. "There's a member of the crew I should really introduce you to properly."

The quarian seemed a bit dumbfounded and confused at the request, but followed Liara regardless.

* * *

Kayap sat on his cot, scratching his head in thought as Liara stood over him. Vik was nearby, eyeing the short little alien curiously. Liara didn't bother giving a cover story, the quarian wouldn't be fooled and he had already seen enough about what was really going on anyway. The real concern was if Kayap knew anything about Charlan and if he could confirm Vik's theory.

"No sure of name," Kayap finally said, his hands upturned in bewilderment. "But me hear talk from friends before. Say they go to Four-Eyes place so they can make them stronger. Sangheili call it 'uplift' and Four-Eyes call it 'upgrade'. They use lot of 'ups' I think."

"Why didn't you mention this before?" Liara asked him, trying not to sound accusatory.

"Me not think important." Kayap explained quickly. "Me not sure if even true. Sangheili lie a lot. Once make a squad think they have bulletproof armour and send charging off to fight. They not bulletproof."

Kayap's voice whimpered slightly upon speaking that last sentence and his shoulders slumped. The more Liara heard of what the Covenant had done to his people, the angrier she got. It was repulsive to think aliens so religiously inclined valued life so little. What kind of God did they pray to?

"How often did stuff like that happen?" Liara asked the unggoy.

"Whenever we get too scared to fight, they lie and say enemy almost beat." Kayap explained sadly. "We don't believe, they just threaten to shoot dead. We no choice either way. Lie just to make easier for them to keep us in fight."

"You must've had some strategy on how to survive a firefight." Liara assumed aloud.

"Mostly Kayap better at ducking," He replied sheepishly. "Also stay close to leader... and run when he shot."

She couldn't blame him. With such an abusive command structure, it was a wonder they didn't just join the enemy the second their leader was dead. Perhaps the Covenant instilled some form of indoctrination on the unggoy to keep them loyal, or at least docile. That and, like Kayap suggested, they probably just didn't have much choice in the matter.

"Back to the Four-Eyes place you were supposed to go to," Liara stated, returning to the original topic. "Do you think that is Charlan?"

"Me not sure," the unggoy admitted earnestly, "but if they make things stronger there then it might be. Me not pay attention much to names of Four-Eyes places. But me know others said they go there soon. They were on Kayap's ship before me sent off with others to yours."

It was evidence that lent itself well to Vik's theory. Overall, it seemed like they had substantial enough evidence to at least follow up on the lead. If the batarians were doing illegal genetic research for the Covenant, then it was imperative that they shut it down before they got too far along in it.

As Liara turned back to the quarian, he finally spoke up about the strange alien in front of them.

"So... this little guy is one of them?" He asked, careful in how he spoke.

"He used to be, but he decided to join us." Liara explained. "He says he doesn't have a choice, they'll kill him if he goes back. Nearest we can tell, his people are the meat-shields of their military structure."

Vik shook his head knowingly upon being told that.

"A whole race of draftees being used for cannon fodder," he stated snarling. "It almost reminds me of how the turian Hierarchy trains their kids from birth to be perfect little soldiers when they grow up."

"To be fair, even though it is mandatory the Hierarchy at least trains their soldiers to be the best they can be." Liara argued, she then pointed towards Kayap. "They just shove a gun into his hand and tell him to run forward."

"Yeah," Vik relented, "I guess you can't really claim the Hierarchy trains meat for a grinder when that's not how their military doctrine works in the first place. There are worse people than them anyway."

Vik looked back to Kayap, who remained silent. The quarian's eyes studied the little alien more closely as the conversation continued.

"What's with the back pack?" He asked.

"His species apparently breathes methane." Liara explained. "We keep refilling it from the ship's methane storage supply, but I've already ordered a shipment of more. I think it would probably be more prudent if we somehow fix the atmosphere in his room."

The idea was going to take a lot of time and money, but if Kayap was going to stay here, then Liara wanted him to be comfortable. That and it would be more cost effective than constantly replacing his supply of methane.

"That would be difficult for sure, and definitely require an airlock system of some kind." Vik said as he looked around the room. "I think the bigger problem is his armour. You do intend to bring him out into the field, right?"

"More than likely, he's our only link to understanding how his former comrades operate." Liara replied.

"Well, he won't last long with that shoddy looking combat harness he's wearing." Vik warned. "No shields, bare minimum armour at best and that tank is gonna explode right off if it gets punctured by incendiary rounds."

Liara had to agree, she had been concerned about Kayap's safety ever since he had come aboard. She had no idea how to fix the problem though. None of their current armour sets fit him. Not even the volus suits they had in storage. Nothing would fit him.

"Any ideas?" Liara asked Vik.

"Well, I've had to become a bit of an expert when it comes to suit repair," Vik answered, tugging at some of the jury-rigged pieces of his envirosuit. "I've been borrowing pieces from discarded armour and the like for awhile now. If you give me some spare parts from some of your armour sets that are in storage, I could probably upgrade his harness to something that can actually give him a fighting a chance. A proper shield for one, less exposure on his arms and reinforcing that tank he carries so it doesn't become a potential bomb in a fire fight."

Kayap suddenly jumped from his cot and ran up to the two.

"You give better harness?" He asked. "Me not have to duck and run so much?"

"Of course," Liara assured him with a kind smile. "And if you're right about this genetic upgrade being at Charlan, we can probably take it and give it to you, turning it on the Covenant."

"And maybe we find other unggoy there," Kayap suggested happily as he jumped up and down. "Then they come with us! We all have better leader and comfy beds!"

Liara's expression saddened. She said nothing, but politely stopped Kayap's bouncing with a hand on his shoulder. He mistook it for her agreeing with him as he still seemed pretty jubilant. She didn't have the heart to break his optimistic hope of having other unggoy join them. That wasn't to say they wouldn't want to, but it was hard to defect when you had the fearful prospect of getting killed for trying. If there were other unggoy there, he'd probably have to fight them, possibly kill them.

It was best he not think otherwise. She couldn't have him emotionally compromised if they were bringing him down there. She briefly wondered if maybe she should leave him up here, just in case. But there could be Covenant other than Kayap's people down there and she would need the insider knowledge.

Kayap went back to his cot, seemingly assured that he'd have fellow unggoy joining him. Vik, however, seemed to share Liara's concerns. He even had another one she hadn't considered at first.

"Illegal genetic experiments are never pretty." He warned. "The Hanar once tried to cure Kepral's Syndrome in drells by changing the chemical make-up of their lungs. It ended up killing every volunteer when their chests exploded. If they're doing something to the unggoy in there, we might not like what we find."

"That was always a possibility, even if the unggoy weren't there." Liara told the quarian. "We all need to be prepared for whatever horrors may be inside that building."

"I'm just asking if the little guy can handle it." Vik explained, sounding concerned. "Some of those unggoy could be his friends after all. It's... never easy when it's personal."

Vik paused slightly as he spoke and Liara turned back to Kayap who hadn't overheard them this time. Could he handle it? Vik had a point. She had thought she had been fine confronting her mother on Noveria. It had not been fine. Could Kayap handle a similar position? She then recalled how he had saved her from that hulking alien on Tuchanka.

"He's stronger than he looks." She stated. "He'll be okay."

"Let's hope so." Vik agreed.

* * *

**July 31****st****, 2185**

They were getting close to Anhur, and Liara decided to round up everyone for a quick pre-mission briefing herself. She came to Saya's room last. She opened the door to the communications hub to find the salarian kneeling on the ground, his sword's hilt pressed to his forehead while the blade touched the ground. Upon recognizing what it was, she waited to speak.

She had heard of these meditation practices before, they were common among the more expressly devout followers of the "Wheel of Life," a salarian concept of reincarnation born out of how short their species life-span was. Salarians were not known for being terribly religious, but for those who believed in the "Wheel" there were certain practices you followed. Mainly, there was a belief if you concentrated hard enough you could potentially see your past selves and maybe even your future-self through the ether of time. While there were different ways of obtaining this high level of concentration, the most common was in the form of regulated daily meditation.

Saya eventually raised his head, perhaps sensing Liara's presence in the room. He took his sword and placed it back into the sheath on the square of his back. He then stood up and turned to the asari. He said nothing, but even through the darkened visor that hid his face, she could tell he wanted her to explain her intrusion.

"We have a mission." She explained politely. "I'd like you in the briefing room, if it's not too much trouble."

Saya nodded once, although he did not move. Liara could only assume he was waiting for her to leave and he'd follow. It was hard to understand someone who didn't talk. In either case, she had promised Wrex she'd talk to him the next chance she got. Now was as good a time as any. She needed to make sure there wouldn't be any issues on this mission.

"Listen," she began, "I need to talk about something with you first. I couldn't help but notice how you seem to be at odds with Wrex. I'd like to understand what that is about."

Saya pointed to his throat at first. She could only assume it had to be him reminding her about his obvious inability to speak.

"I apologise," she said, "I know it can't be easy to communicate for you. Is there any way I can make this easier for everyone, including for yourself? Do you know some form of sign language, perhaps?"

Saya's head pulled back slightly. He then held up his hands and began creating signs with them. It was salarian sign language, Liara wasn't especially adept in it but she knew enough of the common signs to understand. Saya's fingers formed the words he wished to speak, creating shapes and objects quickly for her. He pointed at himself, the fingers interlocked at one point in a spread out pattern and then he pointed at his throat again.

Now she understood.

"Your problem with Wrex is your voice?" She realised, confused at the meaning. "What are you talking about?"

Saya balled one hand and into another, then jabbed his two left fingers into his right palm before raking them across his knuckles and pointing at his throat again. It all became suddenly clear.

"A krogan took your voice." Liara reasoned from the meanings of the signs. "That couldn't have been Wrex."

Saya shook his head, acknowledging that it wasn't.

"So who did?" She asked.

Saya pulled up his omni-tool. In an effort to speed up the explanation he pulled up an article on it for her to read. It was about a krogan pirate gang that had raided a salarian colony over seven years ago. These were the culprits, obviously, but she didn't understand the full story.

"What exactly happened?" She asked.

Saya touched a command and the article shifted to an STG after action report. She could tell by the signature logo atop the page. She read through it quickly. The officer described them finding the krogan pirate gang on Tuchanka, they had taken them down, but unfortunately there had been a complication.

"Sergeant Saya Empa severely wounded," The report read grimly. "The doctors say the krogan crushed his windpipe and the knife just missed a critical artery. That's nothing to say about his bodily injuries. They say he'll recover, but he may never be able to talk again."

Liara looked back at the salarian, her face more understanding than before.

"How long were you in recovery?" she asked.

Saya held up all three fingers on his right hand. For a salarian, that was too much time. But it didn't all fit in Liara's eyes.

"It can't just be your voice." She told Saya. "That pirate took something else didn't he?"

Saya stared at her for a long while before he used his omni-tool to bring up another picture. This time it was the symbol of the Spectres, the Council's Elite operatives. It didn't take much for Liara to figure what it meant.

"You were a candidate for the Spectres while you were still a sergeant." She reasoned. "I can only assume you were just starting your military career."

Saya nodded.

"And after the krogan pirate beat you within an inch of your life, you weren't able to serve in the capacity they wanted." Liara presumed. "The inability to communicate, the injuries that no doubt made things more difficult for you..."

Saya held up his arm and rubbed it on its muscle. He used to be stronger, better than he was now, but he didn't make the cut, not ever since he almost died.

But while it was a decent enough reason to have issues with krogan, that didn't give him an excuse to treat Wrex with such disdain. Liara tried her best to impress this on him.

"I can understand your anger, but you can't blame Wrex for it." Liara informed him. "You can't hold what one krogan did to you against him."

Saya shook his head vehemently. He pulled up another program on his omni-tool and typed viciously at the commands, writing out a quick few sentences.

"Can. Do." The words read. "On Tuchanka long. Saw them. All savage. All same."

"Wrex isn't like that." Liara assured him adamantly. "He wants to change the krogan, to make them better. He's a good man. You just need to give him the chance."

"Maybe. Heard of reforms at STG," Saya typed on the Omni-Tool as he stared ahead at the asari. "Doesn't matter. Won't work. Krogan too far gone. Keep on Tuchanka. Let kill each other. Inevitable outcome anyway."

Liara wasn't about to get into a shouting match over this. Saya had his reasons for disliking the krogan if all he had ever seen of them was their worst side. She couldn't deny those parts of their culture existed when there were krogan like Wreav around. However, Liara had seen the better side in Wrex. The only thing she could hope for was that Saya was open to seeing it as well.

"I'm not asking you to be his friend," Liara told Saya firmly with a resolute look. "But he is mine and he is also a part of this mission and this crew. So if nothing else, when we're in the field, you treat him with the same respect you'd show me or Kirrahe. Understand?"

She wasn't sure if Saya was willing to do that at first. He stared at her for awhile, doing nothing. Then he stood at attention and nodded in compliance after giving a salute. That was all she needed to see. He would keep his anger buried, at least on mission.

"I'm glad to see you can be professional about this." She told him.

Saya made a few signs with his hands. He clasped his fingers together before interlocking them and then pulling at them. He then held out his palms and circled them together before bringing them towards himself. He then stuck out his left hand and clutched it. It was a pretty simple sentence to understand for Liara. It said, 'Being a professional is all I have left.'

* * *

Anhur was the kind of planet the races of the galaxy scrambled over to scoop up. It was a garden world, rich in minerals, perfect soil for whatever crops you wanted with minimal genetic alteration, a warm temperate climate and lush vegetation. For the layman, it was hard to imagine that any place that looked this nice had some darker secrets beneath it. Liara had spent time on Illium though, so it wasn't so hard for her to imagine.

Charlan was outside the limits of the capital city of the planet, New Thebes. Liara had to admit, a batarian research center so close to a human settlement seemed suspicious. It wasn't the fact batarians lived on Anhur, which had long been an accepted fact. The trouble was that Charlan wasn't closer to a place more densely populated by its owner's own species. Vik's accusation that they were responsible for the missing human colonists over the past few years was looking more plausible.

If the quarian conspiracy nut was right, then this was more than just an intelligence operation, this was a rescue mission. Luckily, they had a few krogan aboard more than willing to play heroes, along with Liara's own ShadowNet mercs. Saving any potential prisoners would be their job of course. Liara's group would focus on figuring out what, if any connection, to the Covenant existed within the walls of the research facility. Breaking inside wouldn't be easy though, a fact confirmed when they saw what was in their way.

They had landed their shuttles within the nearby woods, but even from the deep thicket within the dark of a moonless night they could easily see the outer ring of security that surrounded the building complex. The front gate was a no go of course, way too many guards looking over it. The walls were thick with batarians as well, and none of them looked like your standard rent-a-cops. They had high grade assault rifles and the guards in the towers sported Kishock harpoon guns. That was not your standard issue firearm.

"Hegemony Military," Vik warned as he eyed through the scope they were sharing amongst them as they sat in the bushes. "Undercover obviously, but they don't give that kind of ordinance out to regular nine to five security mooks."

"Think they were expecting us?" Wrex asked Liara. "They have to know we got away with Vik by now."

"Possibly, but it doesn't change anything." Liara replied with her voice as steadfast as ever. "We just need an opening."

They weren't getting that from this angle so it was time for a bird's eye view. She had the shuttle pilot circling high above. It had a sophisticated camera system installed that allowed it to act as a makeshift satellite. It wouldn't be very stealthy in most situations, but in the dead of night with no moon in the sky currently, it blended in well enough. That and it wasn't like this research center could just call up gunships to shoot it down, they weren't in Hegemony space after all. As far as she knew, the place didn't have an air target scanner either. They weren't expecting to get attacked from above.

The shuttle sent her back a feed of the entire building complex. While it was picking up heat signatures all around the perimeter, there was little to no coverage on the back entrance. It served as an entrance for lower level employees, had one guard kiosk and three members of security working detail. Their way in was a small, inconspicuous door past a small lot for vehicles to land or drive into.

It was certainly more manageable than trying to get through the side or front entrances. They just needed to be careful. There were still some patrolling guards on the roof that, according to the security schedule Liara had managed to acquire in her usual way, passed by an area that overlooked the back entrance periodically. If they stayed too long, they'd notice something amiss.

"Just like we planned people," She told the others as soon as they got a good look at their way in. "We move in with a small team, keeping most of our men back. When we verify what we're looking for we hit them hard. Once we call them in, we'll have around fifteen minutes before the local law enforcement catches wind of things and arrives. We cannot be here when they do."

"Yeah, this is pretty damn illegal." Wrex admitted. "At least those fifteen minutes will be fun while they last."

With that, the ShadowNet and Krogan teams were put on stand-by, while Liara led Wrex, Saya, Vik and Kayap around to their way in. The treeline extended far enough for them to get close, but not close enough for them to make it across the open terrain without the three night guards potentially spotting them. Luckily, that was never Liara's plan in the first place. She turned to Saya.

"Go." She told the salarian in a whisper.

Saya just nodded and activated his cloak. A patch of bushes pushed themselves apart, informing them that the salarian had gone ahead. Everyone now kept their eyes glued to the guards' positions in front of them, anticipating Saya's first strike.

"How many times do you think he's done this sort of thing?" Vik asked the others. "STG is notorious for pulling a lot of Black Ops, sometimes even against allies. They steal military secrets, medical research, keep tabs on government officials. It's how their government keeps up with the other two Council races."

"I hear a lot of STG ghost stories," Wrex informed the quarian, "and there are even some that are true. But even I think you're going a bit overboard there. Besides, should YOU really be lecturing them on being overly paranoid?"

"Trust me on this, the Salarian Union is like any government body," Vik replied as he looked back at Wrex. "They got a lot of secrets and a lot of lies, and our mute friend over there probably even knows a few. They haven't even learned from their mistakes. They're still working on uplifting Pre-Space Flight races, like with the krogan, just covertly now."

Wrex rolled his eyes a bit at the suggestion.

"I've heard this before." The krogan groaned. "Which one do you think they're uplifting exactly?"

"A race of primitive fish-like creatures called the Autlutans." Vik answered nonchalantly. "I heard about it in the latest download from 'Galaxy Exposed Weekly.' It's a great article, I can show you it."

"No, just forget I even asked." Wrex growled in annoyance.

The first of the guards to go was the one in the kiosk, dutifully watching ahead with rigid discipline. Liara half expected him to be too enthralled with a sports game that was playing or something, but from the looks of it he was on high alert. His four eyes kept staring straight ahead, never once shifting from his careful scan of the area. It would sadly not help him.

Saya had already slinked his way in through the back door ever so silently. The batarian had a hand over his mouth and a sword thrust through his chest mere moments after the salarian entered. Saya's cloak dropped for a moment as he positioned the guard in his chair, his arms covering his wound and his head forced downward. He then turned the cloak back on and slinked back out, invisible once more.

Already knowing where he was going, Liara moved the binoculars to get a view of his last two targets. The other two guards were on patrol, side by side. They were keeping themselves covered fairly well, watching all corners, keeping their flashlights up, but they couldn't protect each other from something they couldn't see.

In a flash, Saya appeared behind one of the guards and sliced his sword across the first guard's neck. Before he even fell to the ground, the salarian looked over to the second guard and stabbed him through the throat as well, silencing him before he could even scream. It all just seemed so easy.

Vik's assumption was probably right, Saya had done this before.

Liara didn't need to tell the others it was time to move, they already knew. They all rushed up to the entrance. Wrex took the time to grab one of the bodies and drag it over to be disposed of in a dumpster near the back. Saya had already placed the other body inside. Vik in the meantime got to work on the door. Despite the success, Liara had since learned not to jinx things by saying 'so far so good' and other such clichés. So, she just stuck to mission parameters.

"Great work, Saya." Liara informed the salarian. "We'll take this end. You know what to do from here."

Saya simply nodded and backed away. Wrex took up position in front of the wall and cupped his hands together.

"Try not to step on my face, please." He grumbled.

Saya rushed towards the krogan. When his foot hit Wrex's hands, the krogan boosted him up to the top while the salarian's second step used Wrex's shoulder to further support his jump. Saya was launched to the roof overhead where he landed skilfully before activating his cloak and vanishing into the dark.

"I'll give him credit, he didn't stomp on my face," Wrex grinned as he looked at Liara knowingly. "Although I bet he wanted to."

Vik was still working on the door when Liara and Wrex joined him. Kayap was at his side, trying to get a look at what the quarian was doing. Vik, sensing the unggoy was crowding him looked at him somewhat incredulously and the unggoy politely stood back.

"You sure you don't want the cloaked STG agent with the sword with us?" Vik asked Liara.

"We'll need him in a more versatile capacity." Liara told him. "The sooner he takes out internal security the sooner we'll have free reign inside."

"What's taking the door so long anyway?" Wrex asked.

Vik grumbled a little under his breath as he kept pressing commands on his omni-tool.

"They got this place locked up tight and this sort of thing takes time." He explained, sounding just a bit agitated. "I don't want to make a mistake and set off an alarm. Just bypassing the lock may trigger it so I'm trying to remotely disable it. Which isn't easy since I only got a tentative connection between both systems in the first place."

"Just do what you need to, Vik," Liara told him patiently. "But we have to be quick about this regardless."

Vik nodded and continued to work. Wrex and Liara pressed their bodies against the doorframe. They alternated looking ahead and up towards the roof, trying to see if they were going to get spotted by any of the roaming guards above. Kayap tried his best to mimic them, although his methane tank seemed to get in the way.

"What exactly do we expect to find in there?" Wrex asked all of a sudden. "What exactly do Balak and the Covenant hope to get out of experimenting on kidnapped test subjects? I mean, what's their end goal and how does it feature into whatever plan they got?"

"The memo suggested some form of biological armour." Liara reminded him. "They could be trying to give the sangheili more protection along with the unggoy."

But Wrex shook his head.

"The sangheili are already hard enough to put down," he stated with a grimace. "The unggoy I could see, but if their lives really mattered so much to them they'd invest in better armour, not a doctor's needle."

"My credits are on Self-Repairing Cell research," Vik suggested confidently as he continued to work. "Everyone has been trying to duplicate the Krogan's and the Vorcha's natural regenerative abilities for centuries. Or they could just be perfecting the Turian's 'Juggernaut' program that got blacklisted back during the Krogan Rebellions. Every major bio-weapons manufacturer on the market has been dreaming of super soldier that can't feel pain and shrug off bullets like they're nothing."

"I have a feeling it's not exactly that simple." Liara told them both. "Nothing about this Covenant has been so far. Let's save speculation until we have more information."

It was then the door's holographic light turned green and Vik lowered his omni-tool in triumph. The door opened with a swish. They were in. The quickly got inside as the door shut right behind them. They found themselves in a darkened corridor, next to a supply a closet and a door marked "Storage."

Before they went any further, Liara brought up a holographic map of facility on her omni-tool. It was derived from blueprints her operatives had acquired for her. She quickly pinpointed their position on the map.

"Alright, we should be here," she began, pointing at the map. "Everything in detail is the low level public knowledge sectors, the main labs and offices. We need to get to the blank section of the facility, the things they don't want us to know about. The quickest route from here to there appears to be this one."

Liara outlined a route that would take them through the twisting halls of the complex and get them to the "Off Limits" sections the fastest.

"We just have to wait for now and let Saya do his job." She continued. "Once the cameras are gone we should be able to slip through the facility without being spotted."

"I just hope he's quick about it." Wrex grumbled. "I hate waiting around."

"Worried he won't get it done?" Vik asked.

Wrex just chuckled.

"Oh, he'll get it done, but in my experience the sneaky types like to take their time with things." Wrex explained. "Sitting around and waiting never was my speciality to be honest."

* * *

It wasn't difficult to get inside. Doctor T'Soni's blueprint made working through the ventilation system easy, although there was the concern of running into a fan or two by accident. Eventually the main security room was located and inside were the three camera operators. In front of them were dozens of screens, none of them pertaining to the secret labs from the looks of it. Saya briefly wondered how much these three actually knew, but that thought was pushed aside. It didn't matter what they knew, they were in the way and that was simply unfortunate. At least it would be quick, like it always was.

The one on the right died first, move before he even suspects anything. The sword had already plunged into his neck, cutting between the shoulder blade and collarbone. The silenced pistol was already up and aiming, the trigger hand rested on the arm to steady the aim. The second guard turned to look, hearing the sound of his dying friend, but it was already too late. One shot and the man was down, the bullet plunging through his upper left eye. The third guard never even saw his shot coming. The second bullet rips through the side of his skull and he face-planted onto his controls.

It was over, Saya let go of the first guard, letting the body fall back into the chair. Quick and clean, they barely felt anything. It was now time for the slightly easier part. Pushing the second guard's chair out of the way, Saya plugged in a data module into the system and let it upload. The quarian's program would be transmitting any second now.

* * *

Vik's omni-tool soon came alive, a green light flashing on its command console. He quickly turned it on and found that Saya had done his job.

"He uploaded the virus," He announced jubilantly. "We got a live feed of their cameras and direct access to them as well."

"Huh, that was faster than I thought it would be," Wrex said shrugging, only slightly impressed. "Guess he doesn't like waiting around either."

Vik had already set to work on the cameras. He transmitted a feedback loop into the system. Any subsidiary security stations would not pick them up as they made their way to the "Off Limits" section. Now they just had to avoid any roaming guards.

Liara took point, Kayap was close behind while Vik monitored the cameras. Wrex picked up the rear, keeping his shotgun trailed on the path they had been. Vik was switch feeds between cameras constantly as they went, trying to keep up with their position. He spotted a number of batarians in the halls, but for awhile it appeared that none of them were patrolling towards them. It wasn't long before that changed.

"Crap, second hallway to the left." He said in a hushed voice.

Liara thought fast, the sound of footsteps suddenly growing louder as she thought. She spotted a door that they were passing by, leading to one of the offices no doubt. Acting quickly, she opened it up, pressing the holographic display with a swat of her palm. They all rushed in, finding themselves in a small meeting room of some kind. They then let the door close shut with a swish. They narrowly missed the two man patrol as it passed them by, their ominous footsteps soon fading. When Vik saw it was all clear, they exited and continued on their way.

By then they didn't have far to go, the rest of the halls were pretty clear. Soon they were close to their destination. The only obstacle now was a single guard at a security checkpoint that led into the High Security levels. He was in his own little kiosk, fairly content with his job it seemed. Liara brought up the blueprints again as they hid within another one of the offices, keeping a watch on the checkpoint.

"We need to remove him." She reasoned.

"Think we can call in the salarian?" Wrex asked.

"No time," Liara said as she readied her suppressed pistol. "I'll go in. Vik keep an eye on the cameras, Wrex, Kayap, be ready to move."

No one argued, either they trusted her or they were relieved they didn't have to go. She preferred to believe it was the former. Slowly she crept out of the office and made her way to the kiosk. The guard was a lot more relaxed than his colleague at the front. No ardent stare, but he was keeping an eye on his monitor, for what she couldn't be sure from here.

She slinked over across the hall, her gun at the ready. She pressed herself into the side of the kiosk and slowly rose up to the batarian's eye level. She placed the barrel of the gun up to the glass. For whatever reason, the guard chose that moment to turn away from his monitor that was displaying a number of camera feeds to look in Liara's direction. The bullet cut through the glass, but did not shatter it, and impacted in the center of the batarian's head. He slumped back over in his chair and fell onto the floor.

Liara took a breath as she looked at the body, but didn't pay it too much attention. She looked up at one of the cameras and motioned for the others to follow. Moments later they had hopped over the checkpoint and moved to the door that led into the secret section of the facility. Along the side of the wall near the door they could see biohazard suits hung up on racks. Words over the door said "Top Personnel Only" in big bold batarian print.

Opting not wait for much longer, Liara entered the security kiosk and looked at the dashboard. She found the button that opened the door and pressed it. The doors opened wide with a metallic hiss, compressed air being released.

"Decontamination chamber," Vik observed with a shake of his head. "That is never a good sign. It means dangerous chemicals and gasses and all that sort of crap. Lucky me I got my own suit."

"Yeah and we're really happy for you." Wrex grumbled sarcastically. "Get in already."

Wrex lightly pushed the quarian forward along with Kayap. Liara joined them just as the doors closed and the decontamination sequence started.

"Do we know what we're looking for exactly in there?" Wrex asked over the sound of the cleansing apparatus that was spraying them down. "Cause we don't have a map after this point."

"We need to find a secure terminal first," Liara explained, "we'll figure it out from there. We'll search the labs. We'll try not to get spotted, but at this point they won't bother to call the police to take us down for trespassing. They'll just put us down."

"Yeah, let's avoid getting shot for the standard bad guy reasoning of 'knowing too much' if we can," Vik added nervously. "Especially since we barely know anything about this place at all at the moment."

The doors opened to the inside of the inner sanctum, revealing lab equipment and little medical slabs in small alcoves lining the halls. The lights inside were significantly dimmer and there were even traces of bloody cloth in small trash bins to the side. This was just the preliminary entrance hall and already it seemed to take on a more sinister persona than the main building had.

They could neither see nor hear any guards nearby, but they remained cautious all the same. They continued to pass vacant laboratory cubicles isolated from the hallway. Inside each were various pieces of medical equipment, including slabs, scalpels, and even some overhanging surgical lights. From what they could see through the windows, one of the labs had a holo-board displaying pictures from various operations and individual x-rays. They depicted kig-yar and unggoy subjects primarily, displaying anatomy and bone structure, but it was hard to make out details. The room had no proper terminal in any case. No sense breaking in here when the information would be clearer somewhere else.

As they searched, Kayap kept running up to every window he could fine, peering through them to get a better look. He seemed frantic and impatient, his head twitching around as he scampered about, looking into the various labs they passed by. It was obvious what he was searching for. Liara quickly grabbed him by his backpack tank before he could rush off to another window.

"Kayap, if they're here we'll find them, along with anyone else who was kidnapped." She tried to reassure him.

"Me just want know if they okay." He said nervously. "This place smell bad, me no like it."

"On that we can all agree." Wrex added, peering into one of the various rooms himself.

He was taking a long hard look at one of the medical slabs. It was covered in dripping blood, bluish blood, but he couldn't tell what kind of species it had come from.

"I'm starting to get a Virmire feel from all this." The krogan stated with a grimace.

They soon came to another corridor, but this one held a surprise. They found themselves looking at a laboratory behind two sets of viewing glass. There were large slabs surrounding by computing equipment and medical tools. But these slabs weren't empty like the others. They had unggoy bodies on them, ripped clean open and on display for any passerby.

Sensing Kayap's terror as he looked wide eyed at his dead people, Liara pulled him back from the scene and made him look at her. She put her index finger to her lips and gave him a stern look. Kayap placed his hands over his face mask in acknowledgement. They couldn't have him screaming, especially when it became clear that there weren't just dead bodies inside that room, not for long anyway. The door to the small medical theatre opened wide and the team hid behind a corner.

Liara, sensing an opportunity for some intel gathering, got her omni-tool ready. She pulled a small reconnaissance bug from her pocket and placed it on the ground. These things were used a lot by infiltration units in the Alliance to get into tight places they couldn't get most people in. The little bug crawled across the floor on its six little mechanical legs before it got a good angle on the room. It transmitted a picture back to Liara's omni-tool to display the whole way. Revealed inside the room were two familiar faces, Trox and the golden armoured sangheili, Vorsa.

With them were two others, one was a batarian scientist of some sort in full biosuit gear. The other was, surprisingly, a turian. From the appearance of the new face's body structure, Liara could tell that the turian was in fact a woman. The waist gave it away. She was the wearing maroon armour with a goldenrod stripe pattern going down the chest. She was carrying a Phaeston rifle with an attached scope in her arms. That was a military-grade weapon from the Hierarchy standard arms. The helmet she wore made it impossible to see her face, but it was clear to Liara that this person didn't look like a Blood Pack merc. Not just because Turians weren't allowed in, but she didn't even have their company symbol on her armour.

One thing was clear, if they were here then this place did indeed have a connection to the Swords, just like Vik said. As exciting as this was, Liara made sure to keep the others quiet. She put a single finger up to her lips and looked to the others as the bug kept filming. Then, she turned on the bug's laser microphone to listen in on the four room occupants.

"Not all the subjects are taking to the modifications as we expected," The batarian scientist spoke gravely. "The adrenaline is boosted, yes, but they're uncontrollable, psychotic even. And I won't even get started on the survival rate for the surgical procedure."

"We have reserves." Vorsa replied unmoved at the sight of the dead unggoy. "My only concern is that enough survive for my needs."

"It would be more prudent if we could make the procedure less fatal..." The scientist tried to explain.

Vorsa just grabbed the scientist by his collar and pulled him close.

"I am tired of your delays." He growled. "Balak promised me better soldiers for battle and all I've gotten so far are excuses."

"Perhaps if you bothered to let your own men volunteer for the experiments," Trox cut in, pulling Vorsa away from the batarian. "They could definitely survive a similar procedure."

Vorsa looked at Trox, seemingly insulted by the suggestion.

"My soldiers need cunning and vision, not blind rage." He explained. "I need to make the unggoy less cowardly. That is the purpose of these tests. My people do not lack the courage to fight, nor do I wish to see them degraded into mindless beasts."

"We've made progress in other areas," Trox reminded him sternly. "The mgalekgolo have responded well to their treatment and the kig-yar are progressing as well. Not to mention the other projects with the bugs. I'm just saying, I even got some of my own men lined up for some special genetic advancements. It couldn't hurt giving your soldiers an edge."

"Cybernetics are one thing, but warping our bodies is another." Vorsa argued. "Sangheili are perfect enough warriors as they are born. Giving us tools to fight better is acceptable, changing how the Forerunners intended us to be is another."

Trox just shook his head in frustration at Vorsa's resistance. He then turned to the turian.

"Anything you wish to add?" He asked her. "You've been eavesdropping for over an hour now."

"I just find it ridiculous you pulled me off training duty for guard detail over a bunch of nerds." She growled, looking to the Batarian scientist with a simple turn of her head. "No offence, Eight-Eyes."

"I don't wear corrective lenses." The Batarian informed her begrudgingly.

The turian just snorted, turning back to Trox.

"I expected some action when I signed on with the Blood Pack, but so far you have me either running drills with freaky midget things and overgrown sacks of worms or lording over science experiments." She told him. "If you don't mind me saying, I expected a bit more from you krogan."

Trox stomped over to her, and even though he himself was wearing a face covering helmet you could sense the anger in his face just through his voice.

"I'll explain this again, Ms. Catonis." He growled. "You are not signed up with the Blood Pack, you are a freelancer. We promised you good pay and decent accommodations for sharing military experience, keeping your mandibles shut and doing as we tell you. And I don't care how valuable your insight is because you used to run with some elite assholes back when you weren't discharged, I'm older, I'm smarter and I can break your back with one biotically charged headbutt. So if I tell you you're on guard duty, you're on fucking guard duty. I write your checks, you honour our contract, if you don't like the job then quit. Let's see how long you last in the mercenary circuit when word spreads you can't handle sitting on watch and you like to talk back to your employer constantly if you don't get what you want."

Liara could see the turian gripping her gun hard, her posture stiffening as Trox spoke down to her.

"Now if that is all, would you mind not following me around anymore tonight?" Trox asked. "Get back on your patrol and let me and Vorsa finish up here already."

The Turian balled her hand into a fist, but in the end she relented and brushed past the krogan.

"Fine, you and your boyfriend hug it out then." She snorted back as she left. "Send me pictures when you're done, dipshits."

The turian left, Vorsa baring his teeth at her as she did.

"Undisciplined garbage," he sneered angrily. "Were she one of my men, I would've seen to her punishment personally. Such disrespect deserves nothing less than a branding of a mark of shame upon them."

"She has her uses. Knowledge of turian military practices will prove valuable." Trox explained. "Balak says as much at least. We need to focus on more pressing matters. Specifically, moving the test subjects to the secondary facilities and research centers for further experimentation, or at least what is left of them. The knowledge in them is too valuable to lose at this stage."

"The transport is on its way, we'll have them ready before dawn." Vorsa assured. "Hopefully after this we will get some actual results."

The three left out another door in the room and Liara closed her omni-tool. As she went to pick up the bug, the others focused on what they had just overheard.

"This just keeps getting better." Wrex grumbled. "Now the damn Blood Pack is here along with that crazy gold-plated asshole. This is gonna get violent real fast. Which will be fun when it does, but still..."

"And they're moving their captives," Vik brought up, "we need to find them fast."

"We have time," Liara assured him, "they're moving them at dawn. We have until then."

She looked over to see Kayap up against the glass, staring at one of the dead unggoy corpses. The dead alien's broad mouth was wide open, its dead eyes staring straight up at the ceiling. They hadn't even bothered to cover the poor thing up post-mortem. No one cared enough. She pulled Kayap away from the glass.

"Come on," she said to him, leading him away. "We can't stay here."

Kayap tried to look back, but Liara motioned Wrex to block his view. She couldn't have him breaking down, not here, it was far too dangerous.

* * *

Finding a proper terminal was harder than it looked. The facility's secret levels were like a maze of wall to wall R&D labs. There had to be more work going on than just the Covenant-based projects. They had to be doing some other kinds of research back here. Either way, this was mad science mass produced. Charlan was an assembly line of amoral genetic research spewing out biological weapons like they were brand new omni-tools or cars, and all of it serving the Hegemony. Even if they found out nothing new from this place, getting it shut down would still make this mission a win in the end.

Using the directions on the walls, they eventually found their way to their real objective, the mainframe room. Inside were all the answers they could want. They just needed to get inside one of the sensitive terminals and start digging.

Liara was the first in and once everyone was inside she made sure to lock the door down as well, considerably easier than opening it up, it just required overriding the lock. They couldn't risk getting interrupted when they were so close.

Vik had already started breaking into the computer. He was well under way by the time Liara had finished locking the doors leading into the room. Considering that he was trying to break into the highly incriminating secrets of this damnable place, the wait was reasonable. The quarian eventually stood up proudly from his work.

"Done," he said sounding satisfied as he dusted his hands against each other. "Now we can get a closer look at their dirty laundry."

Vik stepped aside to let Liara in. She moved through the files carefully, trying to find the ones that pertained to their interests. It wasn't hard to eventually isolate what they were looking for, the scientists here saved all their work, on video no less. She opened the file marked "Recent Developing Projects." Inside she found a slew of videos and audio files; she played one of the first few.

"Progress of adapting specific evolutionary traits has been troublesome." A batarian voice said. "Bonding genes together is always risky. DNA may be the 'building blocks of life' as many claim, but it of course doesn't work the same way as standard construction. This is especially so when you're splicing genes between species that aren't even supposedly native to this universe. Vorsa continues to assure us his people have reserves, but I've noticed he never lets us test on his own kind. We'd probably be more successful if he let us. They're stronger than the smaller aliens and could survive some of the procedures better. But he thinks they're already perfect, there is no need for improvement, at least not genetically. I disagree, but Balak says we need to keep him comfortable. He's compromised with us on cybernetics, so we just have to accept we won't be able to work on Vorsa's soldiers. We'll need to make due. Chief Scientist Dhakal signing out."

Just as Vorsa had said, his people weren't being researched on and that meant the experiments were having some trouble. As they had seen with the unggoy, Covenant volunteers kept dying. But they had to have some success, the memo had suggested as much. Liara opened another file.

"The strains are finally taking root, but there are side effects, particularly among the... what are they called? Unggoy? Yes, that's it. The ones that survive are certainly less prone to turn and run in a fight, but their aggression has sky-rocketed. The injuries among most of our surgical staff are growing and few of the unggoy are even controllable after alteration. I'm afraid if we don't find a way to ease this aggression streak, we may have to turn over the project to our other associates. The kig-yar have adapted to their strain much better though, but they are in a considerable amount of pain. We're trying to fix it with drugs, but there is only so much we can do. I'm just glad they haven't adopted the vorcha's violent streaks from surgery."

"Vorcha?" Wrex spoke up in shock. "They're splicing vorcha with the kig-yar? Why?"

Liara put up her hand to quiet him as she continued to listen.

"The mgalekgolo are the only real substantial success so far." The audio continued. "No increased aggression, no physical trauma, their bodies have adapted quickly. Well... if you can call them bodies. I'm still a bit confused about how it works myself and they aren't big talkers either so they can't explain. Point is 'Project: God Worm' has been deemed workable and we're now in the process of production. But we'll need more Thresher Maw samples before mass distribution can become attainable."

"Thresher Maws?" Wrex reasoned rather shocked. "How the hell are they getting Thresher Maw DNA?"

"Those giant worms do get around." Vik mentioned. "Plus, you said they have been on Tuchanka for awhile."

Liara wouldn't have been surprised to learn if Vorsa and Trox had helped kill some of the Maws themselves to help in the research. But that was neither here nor there, she needed to learn more. She picked out one of the video entries and set it to play. It showed a lab with an unggoy in a small observation cell slamming his body into the glass over and over again, Blood was pooling from his fists as he continued to strike the glass. His shoulder was cut open from his continued slamming into the glass and he even began smashing his head into it constantly.

"Keelah, what the hell is he doing?" Vik asked amazed as the unggoy grew more enraged.

Eventually the glass cracked and then broke as the unggoy tried to claw his way out of the room. Narration filled the rest of the video.

"The subject seen here had the most adverse reaction we've seen so far. The amount of pure adrenaline we've added to his system, coupled with the dulling of the nerve system, made him almost incapable of feeling pain. Thus it reinforced his already raised testosterone levels. The subject took two clips worth of pistol rounds before he finally went down. It was... disturbing... even to me. Supplementary note: Vorsa saw the footage. He said everything seemed acceptable... he just wishes they could last longer... and that they could be controlled."

Liara shook her head at it all. She looked to Kayap. He had been trying to watch, but everyone had gotten in his way. She was glad he couldn't see. There was too much information here to sort through piece by piece in any case. They needed to get what they could.

"Vik, get us a proper floor plan of this place." She ordered. "Once you do, we move out and find where they're holding the test subjects."

Vik set to work again, uploading everything he could for later study. One thing was clear already, Charlan's strings were currently being pulled by Vorsa. He was the face of the Covenant as far as the scientists were concerned. They were working to his ends. He wanted to improve his lessers, make them better fighters. To what exact end, she couldn't be sure, but Wrex had a few ideas.

"If they're really testing with Thresher Maw DNA and making their little midgets crazed balls of violence we may be looking at some potentially tougher fighting ahead." He warned. "We need to get rid of as much of their research as possible."

"We can do that by saving their test subjects, maybe even freeing some of Kayap's people." Liara suggested. "Without all the genetic research that has already gone into them they'll be back to testing at square one."

"We could also get rid of their back-up files on their progress too," Wrex added, "but Liara, that unggoy on the vid didn't look salvageable. It may be already too late for them. In that case, our only option would be to put them down."

It would accomplish the same goal, but Liara didn't like the prospect. She hoped not all of Kayap's friends here had been turned. At the very least, she hoped that was the case for Kayap's sake. He hadn't been handling this as well as she hoped.

It was then Vik called out.

"Got a floor plan and one third of the relevant data," Vik said aloud as he looked over to them. "Lot of juicy secrets on this mainframe, enough to bury the bosh'tets who work here for decades."

"Delete what you can't bring and-"

Liara was unable to finish. The main door's lock suddenly exploded from the outside. The smoking metal was forced open and walking in through the fog was the Turian Freelancer.

"And I thought this was gonna be boring." She quipped with her gun pointed at them. "Thanks for fixing that. Nice one with the locked door by the way, but you kinda talked a bit too loud. Now get on the floor and-"

Liara tossed out a throw attack that sent the turian tumbling to the ground and into a wall. Everyone immediately ran to an adjacent exit, Wrex shooting off the locking mechanism to speed up their retreat. Vik pulled out last, the mainframe still undergoing automatic deletion as he fled. The team ran through the busted door and kept on running.

"So much for stealth." Wrex reasoned as they made their way down the corridor.

It didn't take long for the turian to recover her senses. She followed their path out of the room. She pushed herself into a corner and fired at the group as they retreated. Her shots went wide though, only blowing out the glass of an observation chamber. Liara and the others went to ground, scrambling behind one of the terminal stations adjacent to the side of one of the chambers. As the others covered their heads, Wrex opened fire on the turian himself, forcing her back into cover.

"We better move before her aim gets better." Wrex warned. "We got a place we can get to from here?"

Vik brought up the floor plan of the secret levels he had downloaded and shifted through them.

"Well there's this room called 'Containment' around the corner," He informed them, sounding a bit unsure, "but I don't like the sound of it to be honest."

"We just need to lose her. We won't have to stay for very long." Liara assured him. "Besides, they may be holding some of the test subjects in there with any luck."

It made sense, they were supposed to contain the test subjects weren't they? In any event it was better than standing out in the open. Liara ordered Vik to lay down a turret to preoccupy the turian freelancer. He grumbled, still not liking the idea of heading to the room, but he didn't argue. He put down a turret and let it open up on the turian's position. She kept her head down while the group ran, letting their mechanical ally pin the turian to her corner.

Eventually the turian sped out like mad, firing her gun as she ran. She ducked to the ground near an adjacent observation cell and its terminal station. She then lobbed a grenade over to the turret, the blast messed up its circuitry for a split second before she stood back up and fired a single shot clean into its barrel, causing it to bend and then explode when it tried to fire. The turian turned before it blew up and radioed in.

"We got ourselves some rats." She said. "They're somewhere in experiment observation and containment. We need a lockdown, now!"

* * *

Vik hacked the lock on the containment door, allowing them inside the room. Once inside, Liara and Wrex kept their guns trained on the entrance way. They weren't sure if they had lost the turian, but they weren't making any assumptions. If someone came through that door they were dead. When they were sure no one was following them, Liara lowered her gun and took a look around.

The room's had distinctive metal grating below as its floor. Dim glowing lights illuminated the area. Most prominently, however, were the walls. They were lined with large metal pods, electrical wiring coming out of their tops and going up into the ceiling. She knew what they were, they all did, and it wasn't too shocking to find these sorts of things here. This was, after all, the "Containment Room" according to the floor plan.

"Stasis pods," Liara observed aloud as she glared at them.

"You think the people they grabbed are inside them?" Vik asked.

A possibility, but Liara wasn't so sure. Her gut was telling her something was off. Then a screeching sound was heard, filling the room with a terrible wail.

"Welcome, Asari." Came a voice over what sounded like an intercom system, one that was instantly recognizable.

"Vorsa, he knows we're here," Liara stated, her eyes darting about the room.

"How?" Wrex asked.

Liara searched the ceiling and found something in the corner, a camera looking straight at them.

"I don't know what you put into the systems that allowed you to get this far, but it has been purged." Vorsa declared. "So shall be your fate as well. You've trapped yourselves in an enclosed space. Now this facility's failures will rend you limb from limb."

The stasis pods shut down one after other and their doors began slowly opening. Gas vented from the machines and as the smoke cleared it revealed the contents of the pods, unggoy. Kayap, seeing them as they slowly roused, rushed over to one of the pods and looked over to get a better view.

"Togap!" He called out. "Togap, that you?"

Liara walked up behind Kayap, showing concern as the unggoy began to wake.

"You know this one?" She asked Kayap.

"He friend, we under same leader before he go with another." Kayap explained. "Not seen him after."

The second Kayap finished explaining, he was kicked in the face by the rousing unggoy. The little methane sucker skidded across the floor, Liara moving out of the way as he fell. Vik rushed over to pick the fallen unggoy up. Liara turned back to Kayap's former friend, who was snarling at her. His pupils were pure white and the muscles in his arms were bulging slightly. The unggoy lunged at the Asari and Liara was forced to swat him away with her biotics. Togap hit a wall, but he got up almost immediately.

"Togap!" Kayap shouted out as he hurried to stand on his own two feet again. "Stop! They friends!"

"He's not the only problem." Vik gulped.

The quarian pointed to the other stasis pods, other unggoy with similar pure white eyes and muscles in their arms clambered out of their pods. Now fully out and about, it was easier to see their suits. They had relatively basic yellow and red armour, with two cylindrical pipes on their backs with tubes running to their masks. They began to surround the group, snarling and pounding the floor with their knuckles and fists.

"Vik, turret, Wrex, shockwave." Liara ordered as she pulled back into a defensive circle with Kayap in the center. "Do it! Now!"

Vik set down a turret and pulled out his shotgun. Wrex let loose a shockwave to clear his area a bit and fired away with his assault rifle which was already at the ready. Liara took aim with her pistol and threw out a singularity to keep the rabid unggoy from getting too close. With Vik's turret chattering away, Liara let loose a throw attack that detonated the singularity, spilling the unggoy across her section of the room. Many were injured, some were dead, but those that could still breathe and move kept on moving, possessed by an overriding need to kill.

One of the unggoy got close enough to grab Wrex by his face. The little alien beat and clawed at the krogan chieftain, but Wrex managed to rip him off and slam him back into the ground before stepping on his face. That seemed to keep him down.

Vik was only faring slightly better, and only thanks in part to his turret. His shotgun should've been more than enough to put the unggoy now, but in their current state they seemed to brush off the pain with ease. One of the unggoy grabbed Vik's turret and threw it aside, smashing it against a wall. It turned to attack the quarian and Vik unloaded into the alien's face. Part of the unggoy's jaw fell off and he came at Vik again while he tried to reload a thermal clip. It was then Kayap finally grabbed for his own weapon, the needle gun, and fired them into the unggoy. The crazed alien was forced back slightly, as the projectiles struck his face. The small explosion that erupted from the needles as they ignited killed the unggoy dead.

"Thanks for the save." Vik told him with a gracious thumbs-up.

But Kayap just stared in shock at the dead unggoy, seemingly not believing what he had just done. He had killed one of his own people, almost on instinct alone. He couldn't seem to stop shaking as his arm fell to his side.

It was then Liara decided to end the fight and sent a powerful throw attack hurtling towards the remaining unggoy as they charged. The rabid creatures were thrown violently into a nearby wall, hard enough to snap their spines or break their skulls. That seemed enough for what was left, but one of the unggoy kept moving towards them. It was Togap, crawling along the floor with his limp legs and broken back. He kept clawing towards them, still determined to kill.

"These guys must be like that one we saw on the vid." Vik realised. "They locked them here because they couldn't control them. I knew I had a bad feeling about this room."

"It's just as well we came here." Liara told him. "Rejects or not, they were keeping them alive for a reason. They were hoping to perfect the process to make them more controllable, remember? We may have just set them back a bit."

Wrex stepped out in front of the others and levelled his rifle at Togap's head. Kayap tried to rush up to stop him, but the krogan had already pulled the trigger. Togap finally fell silent and Kayap just kept staring. Liara kneeled down beside him.

"There was nothing we could do." She told the unggoy, trying to comfort him. "What was left of your friend was gone. We had to put them out of their misery before Vorsa and the batarians did something worse with them."

Kayap just nodded, but he still didn't look happy about it all. He kept staring at Togap's body for awhile longer, before he turned away. This was what Liara had hoped to keep Kayap from seeing, but once again life proved to be beyond her control.

Wrex took out the camera with his rifle, giving them some privacy again.

"If this is what they did to the Unggoy, how can we be sure the test subjects aren't worse?" He asked.

"We won't know until we find them." Liara replied. "We assume they're alive and rational for now unless proven otherwise. We just need to figure out where they are."

"I may know," Vik spoke up as he waved them all over to him.

He pointed to a large space on the floor plan.

"This area is titled as the 'Subject Operation Theatre' in the plans." He began. "They must use it to work on the lab rats they kidnap and show off their procedures and end products to their employers. They said they were moving the test subjects at dawn, right? It's the perfect place to gather them. It's back on ground level, it's big enough to house everyone and it's close to a landing pad inside the facility's walls. That might be where they're storing them until that ship arrives."

"What's the fastest route from here to there?" Liara asked.

"Power Conduit Duct below us," Vik explained as he focused the floor plan map on their position. "We can all fit but we need to get past this grating and-"

Wrex grabbed the grated floor and heaved, pulling it clean up from below. The power conduit duct was now exposed and Wrex squeezed his way in.

"Come on, Princesses." He called back. "Just because I can save the day on my own doesn't mean I want to!"

Vik looked to Liara seemingly confused. She already guessed his question.

"We all have our quirks, you'll get used to his." Liara assured. "He does it to everyone, honest."

Vik just shrugged and followed after Wrex.

* * *

The power conduit duct was indeed rather tight, but they managed to squeeze by. Although they were hiccups, such as Vik accidentally invading Wrex's personal space every couple of feet.

"Quit stepping on my tail." The krogan said in an angry hush.

"Hey give me a break, your species is the only one that hasn't gotten rid of those things for some reason." The quarian argued in a shared hush whisper. "And I'm not used to being this close to one of you. You're kinda scary."

"I don't feel like arguing about strange evolutionary traits with you Mr. Weak Immune System." Wrex shot back.

"Knock it off you two," Liara shushed at them. "Do you want to start getting shot at by Vorsa and Trox's people?"

"I refuse to answer that because I know you'll hate my obvious response." Wrex quickly added.

Wrex finally punched the top of the duct and they all climbed out to their destination. They found themselves in the lower portion of a large theatre. Chairs were facing them from and upper balcony. All of them looked down upon a large space below through a thick plate of glass that stretched up high to the ceiling. They all stared down below at ground, littered with technical equipment, surgical tools, portable stasis pods... and the kidnapped test subjects.

The site was shocking to behold. Various people from all sorts of races and walks of life were strapped to tables with heavy clamps, stuffed into stasis pods or simply placed on the floor, too weak to try and get away in any capacity. They saw humans with lesions covering them, turians with their plates peeled off, asari with stitches and biotic dampeners strapped to their heads. Some people were missing arms, others appeared to be blind with covers over their eyes, and there were others covered in bloody bandages to hide their terrible wounds.

"Keelah," Vik said as he looked down upon them all, "I never thought I'd hate being right more than now. Ancestors, there's even more than I thought."

"I count at least 45 captives down there." Wrex spoke up. "I can only imagine they're just the survivors of this place. There had to be a lot more before we showed up."

At least they weren't too late for these people. Liara placed her hand up to the glass as she looked down upon the poor wretches the batarians had mutilated.

"Why so many different species?" She asked in abject horror. "It seems so... random. There's no proper fixed base line for the tests. Illegal genetics experiments usually involve only humans because of their desired genetic diversity."

"We weren't sure if they'd be compatible with our required process."

The voice came from behind, everyone turned at once to see Trox and members of his blood pack lording over them above the balcony. Their guns were aimed squarely at the group, their fingers on the trigger.

"Vorsa figured you'd try and save the test subjects." Trox continued as he stared down at them. "You heroic types are so damn predictable. But hey, at least you brought the quarian along, now we can terminate all our problems in one go."

Liara and the others had their weapons drawn, but they were clearly outgunned, stuck between the Blood Pack and a long drop to the floor below, which they were separated from only by a sheet glass. It wasn't a favourable prospect. They needed a plan, but Liara wasn't sure if she had time to come up with one.

Then, bursting through the lower door of the theatre sitting area was the turian freelancer again. Her rifle was aimed at the four, specifically at Liara's head.

"Glad you could join us, Catonis." Trox observed. "Saves us a few bullets. Now take care of them."

The turian looked straight at Liara as she approached, her gun still drawn.

"Try glowing blue again and I pop your cute little tentacle–laced head, asari." She warned. "You ain't sucker punching me this time. Now drop your guns."

Wrex was about to take aim, but Liara stopped him from doing so, that wasn't a good idea. She had a better one. She clicked a command button on her omni-tool, opening a channel to Saya. He could break this little stalemate, she just had to stall.

"Tell me, Trox," she began with a sneer. "Is this what the Blood Pack has been reduced to? Helping out slavers to mutilate people for science experiments?"

"If the pay is good, then yeah, that's what we do." Trox replied.

The turian seemed taken aback by this claim, her head rising from the sight on her gun. She walked over to the side of Liara's team with her gun still trained on them all. She looked down at the operating theatre below her for a brief second before speaking.

"You didn't say anything about this place using slaves." She spoke to Trox. "You said all the participants had volunteered."

"Volunteered, forced, whatever," Trox said rolling his eyes. "I'm paying you. That should be all that matters. What do you care?"

"My contract states no slaves and no civies," The turian explained adamantly. "It distinctly states that, in bold even! You didn't bother to mention this research involved kidnapping people."

Trox just huffed, clearly unmoved by the concerns of the turian.

"You're working in a batarian facility for a batarian boss," the krogan growled. "Don't tell me you never put it together on your own?"

"Parts of it, maybe, but I just-"

"And you still took my money," Trox added accusingly. "Free tip lady, you wanna make it in this business? You leave that garbage morality at the door. You do the job you're told, whether it's guarding slaves or fucking up weak-kneed civilians. There's no money to be had in playing nice. Now stop pissing around, do what I pay you to do and kill these four."

The turian straightened up and took aim at Liara's group again, her finger on the trigger and the barrel pointing at Liara's head. The asari glared at her as the turian prepared to fire, but the freelancer stalled.

"I do like the money," she admitted, "but that wasn't the reason I got into this business. Besides..."

The turian turned back around to face Trox, her gun now pointed at them.

"I just really don't like any of you." She stated flatly. "At all."

The turian suddenly fired towards the krogans above, but she wasn't aiming for them. Her shot struck a pipe above them, spewing out a torrent of steam on the Blood Pack. The momentary cycle of hot air distracted them enough for Liara's team to bring up their guns and start firing. Two krogan went down as the bullets flew and Trox began to retreat.

"Vorsa!" He called out as he ran for the door. "Get in here!"

The krogan was soon gone, but the turian freelancer called out to him one last time in hopes he was still in earshot.

"Consider our contract agreement revoked, ya bastard!" She cried.

The turian grabbed for her helmet and pried it clean off, tossing it to the ground. She turned to the others, revealing feminine turian features at last, including the larger spaces around the eyes, the longer plates across the cheeks and the slightly smaller fringe. Her face was covered by a red upside-down U with lines going off in different directions. One line reached for the crown of her forehead, two other lines spread out from her yellow eyes to her temples and two more were located further down the U close to her nostrils before they angled downward towards her cheeks.

"I've been meaning to say that for awhile." She said to the group with glee. She then gave a cocky salute. "Nelanax Catonis, former Hierarchy soldier, now at your service."

It was a surprising and sudden turn of events. Certainly not what Liara had been hoping for, but it was certainly faster than Saya. Liara was clearly still unconvinced, however, crossing her arms to give the turian an apprehensive look.

"Forgive me if I don't sound thrilled." She told Nelanax sternly. "You were shooting at us before."

"That was my job then and they've just revealed they were in breach of my contract all along." Nelanax responded dutifully. "So, now my job is making them pay for abusing my trust. I don't want to have a reputation that I was working for slavers."

"And yet you were working for a batarian terrorist group." Vik brought up rather venomously. "Did you really not figure out what they were? I thought you turians were smarter than that."

"At least the ones I know are." Wrex added in a rather unexpected form of agreement with the quarian conspiracy theorist.

Nelanax looked a bit despondent over the accusation, clicking her right mandible slightly.

"They never approached me as a terror group." She explained readily. "The Blood Pack subcontracted me. They said they were interested in former turian military experts willing to work freelance. Some guy called Kreave recruited me as a freelancer, said he wanted me to better train his vorcha and new krogan recruits to his chapter. Before I know it, I'm training batarians and a bunch of freaky looking aliens I've never seen before. That was a concern, yeah, but I thought they were like Blue Suns or something. They never told me about where they were from."

She seemed sincere, but Liara wasn't about to just openly trust a mercenary. She said she had been hired by Trox's former boss, Kreave, who Balak had said was now dead back on Tuchanaka. If he had been willing to recruit biotics into a mercenary organization that was usually against them, would he really have had qualms about electing a turian to teach some of his people? It certainly fit the story she had overheard from before. She doubted it was a lie, but that still didn't explain the other concerns.

"If you were supposed to be training people, why are you here on security?" Liara asked her.

"Trox showed up a few days ago, said he was signing my checks now and that he needed me for security here." Nelanax answered immediately. "He said there was a possible leak about our associates' business practices and to expect a possible break-in. I've been here for less than two days and they only gave me access to the observation level. I'm only in here because Trox's freaky alien friend said they'd be going down there over an open channel. I was only the closest; you probably got everyone of Vorsa's boys headed here right now."

It was still sketchy, but if she was telling the truth they didn't have much time to make a call. She had had questionable relations once before and Shepard trusted her. Liara looked to Wrex, trying to see if he had his own opinion. He had been in a similar position more than two years before as well. He had been a mercenary, he hadn't seemed the most trustworthy and he hadn't even told Shepard about his brief job working for a Rogue Spectre when they first met. All Wrex could give was a knowing look. It was her call, not his.

She came up with an idea.

"You said you were training Trox's people," she began with a demanding tone and look. "Do you know where?"

"Yeah," Nelanax admitted. "I'll tell you once we get out of here, but only if you let me help. I do not wanna be known in this business as someone who will take up work with terrorists and slave-rings."

She was offering help, they were in the middle of a group of well-armed soldiers and they had to get these people out of here. Later, she could do a full background check and if her info panned out, maybe they'd have another lead. So Liara made the only decision she felt she could make.

"How do we get down there to the captives?" She asked her.

Nelanax smiled and pointed her head up top.

"Catwalks above," she said, "they use them to fix the lights and maintenance. We can take a ladder from there down, express style."

They followed her up to the catwalks via a back entrance. Moving up a flight of stairs they soon came to a grated walkway. They moved quickly down it towards a ladder at the far end of the room. If Vorsa's people were coming, they had little time to get down there and even less time to get everyone out.

"I'm signalling the teams outside to move in." Liara told the others before looking to Nelanax. "Is there a structural weak point in here? Can we blow out a wall to speed the exfiltration process up?"

Nelanax looked around below her before pointing out a large wall near a small generator.

"I think that's the back-up for this room in case of a massive power failure," she said as she kept moving down the catwalk. "They have them all over the facility. It's got enough juice in it to make a real big hole if it blows."

"Looks like the wall it's against is near the east end of the facility." Vik said as he looked at the floor plans. "Blowing a hole there would lead you directly to the outside."

"But you'll need some really powerful explosives to accomplish that." Nelanax advised.

"We have somebody who can manage that." Liara assured.

Almost as if on cue, part of the ceiling gave way as a panel fell down onto the catwalk. Jumping down from the ducts above was Saya, his sword in his hand. Nelanax was seemingly impressed by the salarian's entrance.

"Kickass, a ninja frog." She beamed.

Liara pushed her way past the surprised turian.

"Saya, I need you to deal with that generator," she said pointing towards the object in question. "It can help blow a hole to the outside."

Saya complied and jumped off the side of the catwalk. The salarian spread himself out to slow his descent before special jump-jets on his armour activated. He slowed down to a quiet crawl and landed safely on the ground in a kneeling position. He then rushed over to the generator, past the captives, to begin his work.

"Well, that's one way down." Nelanax observed before she reached the ladder. "Wish I could do that."

She clambered onto the ladder and readied herself to slide down.

"Come on then, let's check these patients out of this whack-job hospital." She said to the others.

She then slid down the ladder while the rest of them looked on a bit befuddled.

"Is it just me or is every other line out of her mouth a catchphrase?" Vik asked sounding a bit incredulous.

"I've gotten used to working with those kinds of people over the years." Liara replied.

They all followed Nelanax's lead down to the ground below. Liara had called in the krogans and her ShadowNet. It wouldn't be long before the firefight outside started. Once it did, they'd have a very small time frame to get out of here. They'd need to have the captives safely away from this place and somewhere the proper authorities could pick them up. Just outside the facility would probably be good enough, they'd stay until they heard sirens.

They began gathering up the test subjects; most of the team was pulling them off of their gurneys or picking them up off the floor. Vik was bringing the ones in stasis pods out of their sleep carefully so as not to damage them. The captives were then herded away from the generator. It wasn't easy moving so many people, but enough appeared to be able to stand on their own that they could assist.

Kayap stood as a lookout, overlooking the entrances and exits to the room. Vorsa's people would be coming. They couldn't be taken by complete surprise. He stayed atop a terminal, looking everywhere constantly. His needle gun was out and ready, Liara just hoped he wouldn't hesitate to use it after what he had seen in the containment room.

Saya finished priming the back-up generator to blow. He had spread and poured gel into every orifice and significant area he could find. He even put some extra on the wall itself to add to the chain reaction. Once all the kidnapped patients were out of the way, Saya turned away from the wall, moved away and pressed the trigger as his back was turned. The generator was embroiled in a fireball as the high walls of the facility shook violently. The smoke cleared soon after to reveal that the blast had taken out the wall as Nelanax said it would. They could now hear distant gun shots outside. No doubt is was their people already moving in. The explosion would've caught their attention.

"Let's move them back so our men can get them to safety." Liara ordered as she went to help one of the human test subjects.

It was then that Liara heard Kayap wail loudly. He ran from his position, arms flailing.

"Unggoys! More unggoys!" He cried out.

Everyone instantly ran up to defensive positions, pointing their weapons forward. Liara was concerned they'd be facing more rabid science experiments let loose, but it wasn't like that. These unggoy carried guns, wore their traditional armour like Kayap's and seemed a lot less deranged. They hadn't been experimented on. When they spotted Liara and her team they pointed their weapons towards them.

"These ones will go down easier, right?" Wrex asked.

Before Liara could answer, Kayap ran out into the open in front of them.

"Stop! No fight!" He called out to both sides. "We no need fight! We be friends!"

"Kayap, get back in cover!" Liara ordered.

"They not crazy! Me can make them join!" Kayap tried to assure her. "It not same as before!"

He didn't wait for Liara's approval, he just went ahead and he started talking to his fellow unggoy in his native tongue. Her personal translator implant couldn't make out the words, it just sounded like panicked gibberish to her.

"What is he saying?" Wrex asked, annoyed by no doubt a similar problem.

"He's telling them they don't have to fight us." Nelanax spoke up.

Everyone looked to her, amazed by how she had been able to translate.

"You know their language?" Vik asked surprised.

"They downloaded it into my translator so I could talk to them and them to me." She explained. "First step in teaching is communication."

"Well, continue translating for us!" Liara commanded.

Nelanax returned to listening in on Kayap's speech as he frantically pleaded back and forth between his former comrades. It was a pretty rapid fire conversation.

"He's saying that you're a better leader, you treat him like an equal and you never hit or punish him." Nelanax informed. "He wants them to join up. They say they can't, it would brand them as heretics."

Kayap kept getting more desperate approaching one of the unggoy with an earnest look in his eyes.

"He's trying to remind them of all the abuse and shit they've pulled, how they took them all away from their families, telling them about the experiments they've done on them here." Nelanax informed everyone, growing a bit more concerned as she spoke. "I don't think they're listening."

Indeed, the unggoy Kayap was talking seemed to refuse the argument. He cast his hand out in a swish motion vehemently shouting something at Kayap.

"The other guy is saying they can't betray the Covenant because of their families. He's... talking about some kind of rebellion. It almost got their race killed." Nelanax continued, trying to keep up. "He's saying they're too strong, they can't disobey, and that they'll get something better when their service is complete."

Kayap grabbed his fellow unggoy and shook him violently, practically screaming at him now.

"Kayap is saying, no paradise is worth this," Nelanax spoke at an even more quickened pace, trying to keep up with everything. "He says the sangheili are horrible masters and that the unggoy are all expendable to them, that if they try to fight us they'll all die! That they have a chance if they join you..."

The unggoy Kayap was shaking then spoke something softly to him and Nelanax's eyes grew wide.

"Shit," She said as she switched her rifle to incendiary rounds. "The bad guy midget just said; 'Then this is going to end soon whatever we choose to do next.' Fuck."

Within an instant, Kayap was thrown to the side by his fellow unggoy who raised his gun up to fire on Liara. The plasma pistol charged up, giving off a big glowing green light. The asari had no choice, she fired. The unggoy fell down dead as the bullet pierced his skull.

That single shot opened up a firestorm as everyone opened up on the unggoy scattered about the operating floor. They weren't entirely slaughtered within the first few seconds to their credit. The unggoy ran to cover where they could, scampered away lines of fire and tried to cover each other with plasma bolts. But it was a losing battle for them.

Each of the team managed to thin their ranks considerably. Nelanax's incendiaries caught some of the unggoy's methane packs, causing them to explode in only a few hits after the initial shot. Wrex sent out a shockwave that popped a few of the unggoy up, giving him a chance to fill him with lead.

Vik set up a turret that sprayed the area with bullets. Some got caught, others bolted away as fast as they could. Vik fired at any that were close enough with his shotgun, causing them to scamper off to get gunned down by Wrex or someone else. One of the unggoy tried to slink around the flank to catch the quarian off guard, only to find a drone that popped up in his face that then shot an electrical blast straight into the little alien's face.

Saya was beside Liara, simply firing his pistol into the groups of unggoy as they moved about. When they managed to get close enough, Saya bolted over the top of his cover and ran into battle. He slashed into one of the unggoy as he rushed forward. He jumped off the body and fell down to stab into another before firing off his pistol into the unggoy nearby, taking them down with precision.

There weren't many left before too long. Liara tossed a few singularities to pull the unggoy out of cover. She fired at their floating bodies one by one. She wasn't getting flashy. They just needed to keep them at bay until their back-up arrived. It was then one of the unggoy rushed out of cover with what appeared to be a grenade in hand. He wasn't throwing it though.

"Goddess." Liara muttered at the realisation of what was happening.

She took aim at the alien and fired off a number of shots, but the unggoy kept coming. He got a bit too close, and clicked the grenade's button. Then, suddenly, a flurry of needles flew into the alien's back. Liara dived away as the pink explosion cloud erupted, followed by a giant blue explosion. She looked up to where the needles had come from and saw Kayap keeping his gun trained on the place the suicidal unggoy had been, now just a black ashen smear on the ground. She got up and moved over to him, lowering his weapon once more.

She had been here, she didn't know how personal it was, but she had been here. And she kenw what Kayap needed to hear.

"You tried, Kayap." She consoled him. "That's what's important. You tried."

Kayap finally took a breath and looked up at the asari. Nothing more was said, nothing more was needed.

The fight had ended, for now. This was most definitely not Vorsa's main attack. Unggoy were cannon fodder, he just wanted them to waste a ton of ammo on them. But that wouldn't pay off. Moments after the last unggoy died, their back-up arrived. ShadowNet operatives saw to the captives, Liara organizing them as best they could to bring them out.

"The east-end of the Outer facility has been secure, Clan Leader." One of the krogan reported to Wrex. "We can establish a perimeter around the area and defend the evacuees till we're ready to leave."

"Good, we need to be ready for the sangheili." Wrex warned. "They're on site and coming soon, so..."

Wrex paused, his head looking up to the ceiling like he heard something. As he sniffed the air, something caught his attention, bringing his assault rifle back up to his eyes and pointing up at the ceiling.

"Crap, scratch that," he warned, "They're here."

Liara took note of the warning and looked to the other end of operating theatre. Dropping down from the other end of the catwalks appeared a pack of sangheili in silver armour, led by one that was wearing gold. Vorsa was staring straight at them. His men all armed with energy swords, but he was standing there with no weapon drawn.

Liara looked to her people.

"Get the hostages out." She ordered. "We'll hold them back."

The operatives complied and began shepherding the patients out the hole in the back of the room. Everyone else took up defensive positions. All except Wrex's krogan, who stood out in the open, with their guns primed and ready to fire. Wrex had to hold up his hand to make sure they didn't shoot just yet, as they probably would've if he didn't.

Vorsa stepped over one of the dead unggoy as he approached. Liara bit her lip slightly as Kayap kept low beside her. He had good reason. Vorsa had just sent all of Kayap's friends to their deaths. Who was to say he wouldn't just shoot him down right there? Vorsa was eyeing Liara in particular. She wasn't exactly sure if he was smiling or not, it was hard to tell with their faces and armour.

"Weak aren't they?" He asked aloud as he kicked at the corpse of an unggoy. "When we found them their pathetic little world was a wreck, barely recovering from ecological collapse. They weren't good warriors, but they were useful in probing the enemy. The Forerunners have a place for us all in their grand plans it seems. I suppose trying to make them better fighters was futile all along."

"You call yourself a warrior and you send people weaker than you to do your fighting." Liara sneered back. "You bully them into submission and treat them like dirt. Why they haven't killed you I have no idea."

Vorsa chuckled at the notion.

"Fear is a powerful motivator for lack of faith, asari." He explained. "These ones understood it, yours has forgotten."

Kayap hid deeper among his cover while Liara stared Vorsa down through the barrel of a gun.

"If you think I'm going to let you take him or anyone else in here, you're sorely mistaken." She told the gold plated bastard in front of her.

"The Covenant has no use for traitors in any case," Vorsa stated shrugging. "He'll die with you as an example. There is nothing he can do to regain favour. He is marked, as all you infidels and heretics are."

"You going to keep talking or are you going to fight, Golden-Boy?" Nelanax demanded aloud.

Vorsa gave the turian a single look.

"You seem to have a knack for creating backstabbers, asari." He noted.

"She chose to join up, just like Kayap did." Liara replied. "I'm a better boss it seems. I can see why they'd think that given the management around here."

"You call him by name as well?" Vorsa asked on the verge of laughing aloud. "You have the ability to warp mass with your mind and you call that wretched pile of gas-breathing refuse by name?"

"I don't treat people like garbage." Liara responded adamantly. "Simple as that."

Vorsa rolled his eyes at the sentiment.

"At the very least these stupid creatures allowed me and my men to analyse your combat styles." He stated. "This should be over swiftly."

Vorsa reached to his side and ignited his energy sword.

"Recover the test subjects, alive if you can." He informed his men menacingly. "Cut down the rest."

The sangheili rushed forward, bellowing a war cry from their mandibles with their swords stretched out to their sides. Some of them had plasma rifles in their free hands and opened up on Liara's team as they closed. Vorsa took up the rear and was one of the few sangheili who didn't pull a gun. Was he that confident in his swordsmanship, Liara thought, or was it just plain ego?

The sangheili closed the distance, their shots forcing the krogan into better cover. Even they didn't want to take a plasma bolt to their faces if their armour failed them. They still fired their shotguns and rifles at the sangheili, but it didn't seem to deter them. What their shields didn't absorb, their energy swords halted. They held up their swords across their bodies and the shots seemed to be blocked by the plasma-based blade. The tiny mass effect propelled fragments melted against the searing heat of the energy that comprised the sword. Then, when they were close enough, they tried fighting the krogan hand to hand, so to speak.

The sangheili had closed to within slashing distance of their targets. The krogan were able to hold their own in an all out brawl, but the sangheili they were fighting were quick, nimble and far more flexible. They dodged the giant humpbacked aliens' blows with ease, and seemed to be toying with them at times. They had all the chances to strike the krogan down, but simply swatted them away with their free hands.

Some of Wrex's people tried shooting the Covenant soldiers, but even at close range the sangheili avoided the attacks. One of them used his sword hand to both push a shotgun's barrel away from his head before cutting the gun in two. The krogan, angered at the loss of his weapon, retaliated by head-butting the sangheili. The Sangheili fell to the ground from the successful strike, but easily rolled away from the forthcoming stomp towards his head.

The others weren't having nearly as difficult a time, but they weren't faring much better. Vik kept backing up, not willing to stand for long against the sangheili as they kept blocking his shots. He tried to drop a turret, but it didn't get off many shots before the sangheili cut it down. It offered a moment to fire his shotgun at them though, hitting their shields from afar. That forced the two sangheili to retreat behind a terminal for cover, where they continued their attack on the quarian by firing plasma rifles at his position. The quarian was forced to go to ground behind one of the abandoned stasis pods. He sent out a drone to keep the sangheili preoccupied while he reloaded his gun.

Saya was more comfortable with the close combat from all outward appearances. The salarian didn't hesitate to meet the sangheili with his sword out and ready to strike. He wasn't foolish enough to try and connect with the energy weapon. The shiakala wasn't an ordinary weapon, but it was still, at its core, just a sword with some extra upgrades. The plasma sword would cut it two with ease. So Saya would have to play smart.

As the first lunging slash from the sangheili came towards him, Saya twirled around him to the left. He sliced at the Covenant soldier's arm with his own sword, electrifying the blade as he passed it over the arm. The sangheili grunted, but barely flinched. He wrenched back, slashing upwards, Saya jumped back before the blade could make contact. The sangheili charged forward, lashing out with a strike, but the salarian ducked down and rolled around his target, slashing out at his back. An electrical shock bit at the upper shoulder blade of the sangheili, forcing him forward. He spun back around, intending to lop Saya's head off, but the STG agent ducked and delivered a powerful kick to the Covie's stomach.

That was the end of the easy hits. The sangheili retaliated with a swift kick that sent Saya flying backwards. He smashed into a computer terminal and the sangheili lunged for the kill. The salarian dodged out of the way, just in time for the plasma sword to plunge through the terminal instead of him. Saya stabbed his sword downward, straight into the sangheili's arm that held the sword and turned up the juice. An electrical shock permeated through the Covie's body, but despite the pain he would not yield. The sangheili balled his fist and punched Saya away from him. The shiakala slid out and Saya was forced sliding back across the ground. The sangheili simply stood back, switched his sword his good arm and prepared for another round. One thing was now clear to Saya; these guys were tougher than they had first appeared.

Nelanax was struggling to put her attackers down as well. Bursts of fire flew straight for the sangheili that was approaching her. He just didn't seem to be all that bothered by her attempts. His plasma sword was quick to move over and block wherever bullets came flying at him. The shots melted to nothing at the energy sword's touch. Going for the kill shot was proving ineffective, she needed another strategy.

As she backed up from the sangheili some more she bumped into a small medical tools table. Arrayed on it were a number of small scalpels and bone saws, among other surgical equipment. She doubted any of it would be enough to rip into her attacker enough to kill him, but it could probably catch him off guard.

She picked up one of the electrical cutting tools on the table, some kind of saw blade, probably used to cut open ribcages. She turned it on with one hand and fired off another wild burst with her rifle in the other. The bullets went wide, but they were the distraction. She just needed to get his attention on her long enough for him to move his sword back into place, allowing her an opening to toss the saw at him.

The tool spun through the air and collided with the sangheili's left thigh. He jolted from the pain in anger for a split second. Enough time for the turian to close in and deliver a swift kick to the injured leg. The sangheili bent down under the pressure and Nelanax kneed him in the chin, forcing him onto his back. She would've finished him then and there, if he hadn't pointed his plasma rifle back up immediately and began shooting. Nelanax bolted away from the injured sangheili and ran to the cover of an overturned medical table. At least she had halted his advance.

It was from her new cover that she spotted Vik, now pinned behind his terminal as plasma bolts struck his position. She spotted the two sangheili that were giving him grief. Considering that they now played for the same team, she decided to help him out. She activated a grenade and tossed it into the sangheili's position. They noticed the explosive land and bailed from their position. They got far enough away from the initial blast radius that one of them only had his shields taken down and a bit of shrapnel lodged into his back. He pulled back to safer cover despite the pain.

The other sangheili avoided the explosion altogether, but his attention was now on the female turian rushing at him like a freight train. He fired his plasma rifle at her, but the turian dropped down and slid forward. She kicked the Covie in the chest with both her feet. The sangheili was forced back slightly. He then ignited his plasma sword and thrust it down towards her. She rolled out of the way, the blade cutting into the floor instead of her body.

Nelanax picked herself back up and threw a punch at the sangheili. He blocked it along with the following kick that came for his face. He then swung out with his sword towards her head, but Nelanax stopped it by grabbing his arm just moments before the blade reached her neck. She could feel the searing heat just inches away from her and she growled at the slight pain. The sangheili kept pushing forward, inching his blade closer. She couldn't beat him in a test of strength on this level, so she fell back on one of her old standards. She brought up her foot and kicked him in the crotch. The sangheili didn't seem nearly as hurt as most others were, but it forced him off her. Nelanax then went for her knife and stabbed it into the side of the sangheili's head as he tried to recover.

"Mind if I pick your brain?" She asked, seemingly laughing at her own quip.

She kicked the sangheili off her blade and looked back to Vik. He had been out of cover for awhile and had pretty much seen the whole ordeal.

"Are you a vid trailer or something?" He asked the turian, seemingly bothered by her one-liner.

Nelanax just smirked and pulled out her own pistol.

"You're welcome, quarian." She said, brushing off the question as she went back into the fight once more.

Vik just shook his head and followed her back up to the others.

Both Wrex and Liara were side by side, still trying to hold off Vorsa's men. Saya passed them by, still avoiding and dodging the sangheili chasing after him. Liara, spotting this, threw out a throw attack in the sangheili's direction. It forced him flying upwards straight into the catwalks above, where he crashed into the railing. He wasn't killed by the impact of the guardrail, however, as he quickly turned his attentions to the asari and began firing on her, forcing her to go to ground.

"They seem particularly tougher to put down this time." Liara observed as she kept her head low behind a stasis pod.

"Probably because their leader ain't cutting and running like he did on Tuchanka." Wrex suggested as he fired off another slug.

"We'll kick their asses like we did there, Clan Leader!" Said one brazen krogan, assured of their imminent victory. "Watch this!"

He and another one of Wrex's men jumped forward into no man's land. Wrex held out his hand to stop them, but he was suddenly preoccupied. One of the sangheili got too close and he was forced to send him flying away with a shockwave. Another took aim at him from afar with a plasma rifle. Wrex armed his shotgun's carnage mod and fired one blast straight at the sangheili's position. The blast sent the sangheili reeling backwards. His silver armour was blackened by the explosion and he appeared to be bleeding, but he quickly scrambled to cover and continued to blind fire at his enemy.

Wrex turned back to his fellow krogan just in time to see Vorsa approach them. What happened next occurred in the blink of an eye. One of the krogan raised his gun to fire, only for a plasma sword to get punched through his gut. Vorsa pulled the sword out and slashed it across the second krogan's face. They both fell to the floor in heaps. Wrex growled at Vorsa as the Covenant officer glared at him.

"You may have surprised us on your homeworld, Urdnot." Vorsa acknowledged. "But we were far more prepared for this fight."

Wrex said nothing, but he did switch to inferno rounds and prepare another carnage shot. Vorsa shook his head.

"I find guns so... barbaric." He declared as he lifted his sword high. "Any brute could use a firearm. It takes precision and cunning to learn the ways of the sword. Far more elegant a weapon, wouldn't you say?"

"Maybe," Wrex relented, "but krogan don't do elegant."

The Krogan Clan Leader raised his gun to fire, but Vorsa was on him in seconds. He cut the shotgun in two. Wrex dropped the gun and returned a biotic punch to Vorsa's face. The sangheili was pushed back and Wrex tried to follow up his strike with a charge. Vorsa just flowed around him and slashed at Wrex's hump. The krogan grunted, but was undeterred. He wouldn't let Vorsa force him into his preferred fight.

Wrex went for his pistol and prepared to shoot, but Vorsa was a step ahead of him. The sangheili commander sliced at Wrex's leg, causing him to falter before he kicked him to the ground. Wrex fell forward and onto his back, allowing Vorsa to get on top of him. The snagheili's foot stomped down on one of the krogan's hands. He went to stab Wrex in the face, only for Wrex to clutch at his sword-wielding arm and hold it back.

Liara looked on in shock. Everyone else was too busy with their own problems along the defences to help. She needed to do something. Wrex was struggling to keep that massive blade of plasma from cutting into his brain. She could fire at Vorsa, but his shields would probably absorb it. She needed to put him off guard.

That was when something hit her foot. She looked down to see it was one of the Covenant's plasma pistols. She looked over to where it had been slid in from and saw Kayap.

"Press trigger and hold!" He called out. "Fire when it glows big!"

She understood what he meant and grabbed the gun at her feet. She pressed down on the trigger until the weapon hummed loudly, a giant bolt of energy formed on its end. She aimed it at Vorsa and fired. The huge ball of plasma collided into Vorsa, destroying his shields. Shocked at what had just happened, Vorsa wasn't as focused on killing Wrex. The krogan kicked him off and away from the defence line. He followed it up with a powerful biotic throw that sent Vorsa hurtling into the back of the room. After stumbling for a few meters, however, Vorsa managed to stay on his feet.

"Fine," the sangheili commander growled. "If you wish for a more brutal death..."

He shouted something in another tongue. Stomping out from one of the entrance doors appeared an imposing-looking Mgalekgolo, similar to the ones on Tuchanka. Knowing Wrex was still hurt and would need time to heal, Liara rushed over to drag the krogan into cover. Wrex still had his pistol in hand and fired it back on the giant walking tank. The bulelts bounced off the creature's armour and it continued to charge up its main weapon. In the last moment, Liara managed to get Wrex into safety as everyone pulled back. The Mgalekgolo fired his weapon and a giant flaming ball of plasma rocketed towards them. They managed to get out of the blast radius, but Liara could still feel the heat as the explosion rocked the ground.

Everyone else soon pulled back with them, they had no idea how to fight that thing. Liara turned to Nelanax, hoping she had an idea or suggestion.

"I don't suppose you trained some of them." She posited to her.

"Actually, yeah," Nelanax answered dutifully. "They have this big orange space on their backs. Looks all gross and pulsating and crap. I think that's their weak spot."

Then they needed to get him turn around, Liara looked to Vik for the answer.

"Send a drone out, force him to turn his back to us." She ordered.

"On it." Vik concurred.

Vik let loose a drone program, it appeared near the Mgalekgolo and sent out a blast. It didn't seem to bother the giant alien much, but he still saw fit to turn and smash the drone with his giant club-like shield on his other arm. Everyone popped up to fire into the creature's back, only to find that it was not orange, but brown.

"That's not supposed to be there." Nelanax said confused.

Liara was suspicious, but looked to Kayap.

"Do they have those?" She asked.

The unggoy shook his head.

"Mgalekgolo all bright behind." He confirmed. "That not how they look before."

Regardless, Liara fired her pistol at the brown back, but the bullets seemed to do nothing. Wrex peered closer at the alien's back and his eyes went wide in shock.

"That looks like Thresher Maw hide." He observed. "That thing has the natural defences of a thresher maw!"

It all clicked suddenly, Project: God Worm, now she understood the name and the goal. They had fused thresher maw DNA with these giant aliens to remove a potential weakness.

Mgalekgolo turned once more to fire, charging his weapon again. Everyone made a break for cover as another barrage headed their way, taking pieces of the operating floor with it. Then, it suddenly stopped. The survivors of Liara's group looked back curiously. Nelanax quickly piped up.

"I'm getting something over their comms line, I still got the frequency." She explained. "I'll tune you in."

Trox's voice rang over their speakers as Nelanax transmitted the frequency code to the rest of the team.

"Repeat, pull out." He said.

"I am winning, you fool! We could be rid of them!" Vorsa shouted in protest.

"The cops are almost here, we heard the sirens just a minute ago." Trox explained. "We cannot risk losing Project God Worm. It's the priority. His brother is already on our escape ship, get the second over here or we'll be back to square one!"

Vorsa growled and at that moment, every Covie in the room began to pull out. They fired off shots to keep Liara and her people pinned, but it wasn't long before they had all left. Liara was tempted to go after them, but if the police were almost here then they needed to be gone too. That and the hostages still needed to be seen to a safer position.

For now, they were done.

* * *

The police showed up only a few minutes later. Liara had spotted a shuttle leaving the Charlan Facility moments before they arrived. They left the tortured and mutilated patients in the parking lot to be found. Hopefully there were ambulances already on the way to the building and they'd be getting medical treatment in no time.

Liara couldn't stay to find out, none of them could. They had lost two of their own and had wasted enough time recovering their bodies from the scene of the crime. They couldn't leave any evidence behind, just a bunch of traumatized witnesses who weren't in any shape to give faces or names. The rest of the team made their way back to the extraction zone and waited for the shuttle to land. While they did, she gathered Vik, Saya and Wrex together to handle their plus one, Nelanax.

"Well it seems I saved your asses." She told them with a cocky grin. "No need to thank me, all in a day's work. So, who am I bunking with?"

"Excuse me?" Liara asked with a perched eyebrow.

"Well, I'm joining the crew right?" She asked. "That was the deal."

Vik rolled his eyes slightly. The sentiment was shared by the others as well.

"That wasn't the deal." She replied with an incredulous look. "You said you'd give us information if we let you help us and got you out. We didn't say you could join the crew"

Nelanax snorted at the refusal and insisted on her inclusion.

"I took a big risk for you back there," she told them, pointing back at the facility. "You realise that, right?"

Liara accepted that she had put herself at risk. Trox wasn't going to forget her betrayal, if it was a sincere one of course. But that wasn't enough to allow her to join.

"We appreciate your help, but it doesn't mean we suddenly trust you." She informed the turian. "You turned on Trox and the Blood Pack mainly because you didn't like them lying to you."

"If I had known what they were about I'd never have taken the job." Nelanax replied, annoyed by the suspicious stare she was being given. "I saved your quarian's butt back there, I was pretty much the only one who managed to kill something in that fight and I'm offering to help you more. What is not to trust?"

"Get used to that, you're a merc." Wrex told her. "Trust is earned, especially in the hired gun business."

Nelanax grimaced, annoyed at it all. Finally she sighed and approached Liara more earnestly.

"Look, I promised to tell you the location of that training camp I was at if you got me out." She reminded her. "I'm good to my word, but I'd be of more help if I came along. I know the place, I got the outline, I know where they keep everything, I have it all memorized. I've been with the Blood Pack and these new aliens for awhile too, so I know a bit about their strategies, their functions, who some of the key players are. I'm a goldmine here!"

"You're still a relative unknown." Liara informed her gravely. "You're asking me to put my trust in you and so far all I know about you is that you pulled a gun on your former employers. What is going to convince me you won't do the same to me if you get pissed off with us?"

"Check out my background," The freelancer insisted urgently with a pleading look. "Look up my record in the military, whatever you need to do to figure out I'm trustworthy."

Liara had planned to do a background check anyway, but she was still not sure. She just seemed too eager; maybe Vik's paranoia was rubbing off on her already. She crossed her arms as she continued the conversation.

"Why do you want to help us so much?" She asked the turian. "We can't exactly pay you a higher salary if that's what you want."

"Credits ain't why I got into this," Nelanax told her adamantly, with an earnest tone of voice as she spoke. "I came for the action and I came for the thrill. You guys are after these new crazy aliens and all the shit they brought with them. Taking them down sounds like the kind of action they've been stiffing me on. So think of this as pro-bono if you want, no charge, I just want to get the chance to kick their asses for the shit they put me through. When I said I didn't like them back there, I meant it. I was only sticking around until my contract was up or if something better came along. You came along."

Liara's looked softened slightly as she took Nelanmax's words in.

"I helped them, yeah," She admitted, "but I can help you take them apart, if you let me."

Liara still wasn't sure about her, maybe she could be trusted. A background check was in order in any case. Plus, it would probably be easier to monitor her aboard the ship than it would be by just cutting her loose. She'd need to be careful with this one, but someone with insider knowledge of Balak's organization, no matter how little, could prove useful.

"Fine, you're welcome on the ship." She told her. "But I'm going to be watching you."

"Kick ass," Nelanax beamed, "I guess I should finally just learn your name then, since we're ship buddies."

Liara sighed, she might as well. They hadn't properly introduced themselves before after all.

"I'm Doctor Liara T'Soni." She said stretching out her hand for Nelanax to shake. "This is Saya Empa, Vik'Sajee and Wrex."

Nelanax took Liara's hand, and also seemed excited at the revelation of who they were.

"No way! Liara T'Soni and Urdnot Wrex?" She asked. "Commander Shepard's crew? Shit, now I know I picked the right side."

"I take it you've heard of us then?" Wrex asked with an intrigued look.

"Who hasn't heard of Urdnot Wrex?" She replied. "Spirits, you're like a fucking legend in the merc world! Moreso after you kicked the Geth Ship on the Citadel straight in the sack over two years ago."

"Good, then you know what we're capable of." Liara told her with a slight hint of a warning. "I don't suppose you have any other things you need to bring along?"

Nelanax looked back in the direction of the Charlan facility, the sirens still blaring.

"Nah, brought most of my guns with me anyways." She admitted turning back. "You got a holovision up in your ship though, right?"

"I'm sure we could find one." Liara replied.

"Great, then I'm all set." She stated as she headed to the shuttle.

Wrex stood by Liara as they watched her go to take a seat in the shuttle.

"We keep picking up weirdos everywhere we go it seems." He said to her.

"What does that say about us?" Liara asked in return.

She quickly changed the subject to the aftermath of the mission.

"We got a bit of a wake-up call." She told him. "Charlan proves these Covenant have been active for awhile and they're getting help from the batarians to make them even tougher. Plus, Vorsa just showed us how ruthless he and his people can be. They took everything we could throw at them and we could only severely wound them at best for the most part."

"These sangheili are strong, and I think my own boys just got their first lesson." Wrex added as he looked to the other krogan. "No matter how tough you think you are, there is always someone who is just as or tougher than you, and maybe smarter. I think they'll start taking this thing a lot more seriously after today."

Wrex slowly turned back to Liara, a concerned look in her eyes.

"I hope you don't go off looking to fight Vorsa again alone or something." Liara told him. "You have nothing to prove."

"I know, don't worry." Wrex assured her. "I'm not petty here. He caught me off guard, all of us. Next time, we'll gang up on him. See how he likes it."

Liara smiled and nodded, happy to hear he wasn't some shamed by a near loss to someone else.

"I was worried for a second back there. That I was going to..." She couldn't finish the thought for a moment, the words sticking in her mouth. "Well, I didn't."

"You can't get rid of me that easy," Wrex boasted with his arms wide open. "And I wasn't worried for a second. I knew you had my back."

They began walking back to the shuttle.

"Now stop worrying about the 'almosts', okay?" Wrex asked as they climbed aboard. "We won today, be happy about that."

There was a lot to be happy about. She had put Charlan out of business, scattered Balak's bio-weapons research and saved a lot of people. On top of that she had added to her crew and got a new possible lead. It had been a good day and with any luck she was one step closer to bringing Shepard home. She just hoped, wherever he was, he was having a good day himself.

* * *

AN: So that brings our crew count to SIX, folks. Nelanax is the last inductee into Liara's little squad. I'm really excited for her because it's the first chance I get to do a turian female. They need to be done more, seriously. I have a pretty good backstory for her lined up, but you'll have to wait for that to come out in public.

Also, Anhur is a real planet in the Mass Effect universe if anyone wants to ask. Look it up, Google "Anhur Mass Effect", you'll find it, trust me. Same backstory and everything, honest, didn't make it up. BioWare created it and everything, I just used it.

Also, the TVTropes page could still some of your love. While you're goggling Anhur, type in "Guilty Sparks TVTropes" and feel free to edit if you can.

Next chapter brings us back to Halo, finally. We'll give Liara a rest for now. We still have a ring world full of mysteries to solve, a glass-bones Pilot and Biotic Ex-Con to save and some plot points to set up. We'll find ourselves in Alpha Base soon, where Shepard will learn more about Spartans and why ODST Majors are assholes. See ya then.


	11. Lies & Opposition

Chapter 10: Lies and Opposition

**September, 19th, 2552**

This had not been the day he was hoping for. The aliens had forced the humans to ground, delaying Guilty Spark's desired meeting even further. It would take time for the ring's scanners to locate them once again.

"Most distressing," he thought, "most distressing indeed."

He did not understand this 'Covenant' as they called themselves. They had this almost fanatically obsessed desire to see the humans dead, to see them all removed from the ring entirely. Why? What was the purpose of killing them? That was in flagrant disregard of protocol and yet they persisted. Were organic life forms just predisposed to the need to kill one another? Perhaps at one time he could've answered that himself, but not anymore. It had been so long since he had thought about such things that he couldn't remember now.

It was because of this that 343 Guilty Spark decided to monitor Covenant activity. He needed to assess this apparently diverse grouping of alien creatures. Many of them were recorded on file, but time had no doubt changed them and he needed to understand how it had.

Their ships were clearly bigger than the human one that had been shot down. Of course, Guilty Spark only had the one ship to compare it to. From what the scans could determine, the ships had numerous technological similarities to Forerunner weaponry and design. Their armaments, shields, propulsion, among various other facets were in line with Forerunner systems and advancement. However, they didn't seem all that improved. Guilty Spark expected them to have surpassed the Forerunners in some ways by now, but very little had changed in terms of capability if the scans were accurate.

It made no sense. Clearly they had borrowed and developed their technology from the base of Forerunner knowledge. Why had they not improved upon them? True, the Forerunners were the most advanced, powerful race in existence, but they were gone. Surely, these Covenant were capable of continuing the work they had decided to model their society after. Spark wasn't sure if it suggested they were slow to implement changes or just stagnated technologically. What that said about their level of intelligence he was unable to calculate at this point.

As he scanned the Covenant ships he also tried to pin down that other vessel he detected. It was a smaller one and it had been flying about the area the human escape pods had crashed, but now it had mysteriously disappeared from scanners. Perhaps it was utilizing some form of stealth capability to mask it from the clearly hostile Covenant. A decent strategy, but he would circumvent it in time. There was a way that ship was masking its presence and there were number of ways Guilty Spark was aware of that would allow it to do that, six thousand and seventy four to be precise. He had countermeasures for all of them.

Unfortunately, he was interrupted before he could begin working on the matter. An alarm sounded suddenly, an alarm that had been quiet since day one. It was loud, blisteringly so, as it should be, since it signalled the single greatest disaster that could befall this ring. Guilty Spark dropped what he was doing and headed over to an internal security screen. He brought up a view of where the alarm had originated. He was shocked to find a containment facility being broken into. He was not surprised to discover it was the Covenant committing the act.

The aliens were cutting through several secure levels, breaking locks never meant to be open, digging through walls that they had no authorization to dig through. It was infuriating, a blatant disregard for all the safety protocols he been programmed to follow. They were endangering everything with their foolish actions. What did they possibly hope to even find inside? Did they even know what was in there?

Guilty Spark checked the other containment sites and was horrified to see that the Covenant were already trying to break inside them as well. This one had simply been the first they had been successful in tripping an alarm with.

"Unacceptable, completely unacceptable!" He declared. "Activating sentinels in all sectors. These Covenant cannot be allowed to continue."

Within moments, sentinels were activated across the ring at every containment site the Covenant were attempting to breach or had breached already. Spark watched as the robotic sentries went to work, firing their concentrated lasers-beams at the offending interlopers. It was their own fault for such flagrant disregard for security and safety parameters. The aliens fought back, of course, shooting wildly at the machines. Their plasma weapons were highly effective against sentinel shields, however, ensuring that the sentinels would be impeded.

'_A most bothersome development indeed,'_ Spark thought to himself.

There was some moderate success. A few of the aliens retreated from their attempts at excavation, but not far. They would return of course, and enough had managed to fight off the sentinels that Spark would need to redirect more to properly deal with them. One thing was sure from the visuals; the sentinels could delay the Covenant, but not stop them. Their weapons melted the machines with ease, destroying their shields and rendering them useless in moments. It was amazing to see that the smallest of the aliens had the greatest success. Their green-tinted plasma pistols were most effective against the sentinels, killing their shields in one shot before destroying them in the second.

Another strategy would be required and Guilty Spark would find it. He would not allow these aliens to endanger containment. Everything else would have to be put on hold until then. A pity, now the humans would have to wait even longer.

* * *

This had not been his desired result. Thel wanted the humans isolated and put down. Instead, they had gotten away, all of them. They would be tougher to track and even more difficult to expunge now that they were united in a cohesive force.

Worse still, Varvok had burdened him with another prisoner, and unlike the first, this human was far more aggressive. They needed to keep her restrained all the way to her cell, which she would share with the human pilot. She constantly banged on the shield door, causing a slight static effect after every strike. Despite the futile nature of her attempts to break open her cell, he worried about her powers assisting her in some fashion. According to Varvok, however, the dampener he had latched onto her neck would keep her in check. She had tried to remove it several times now, only for a slight electric shock to keep her at bay.

But even with so many security measures and assurances, Thel was still not happy. He turned to Varvok, now standing within his command platform. He was still wearing that blank, formal look on his face.

"What possessed you to capture this one?" He asked the Lieutenant Commander.

"Proof it could be done," Varvok explained. "She is the most powerful human biotic known to us. I thought you'd be impressed."

"I'd be impressed if you had put her down, not if you forced me to store her away on one of my ships." Thel told him sternly as he stood over him. "I will not have you endanger my crew just because you wish to accumulate trophies. Explain to me why I should not just execute her before she attempts to kill my men?"

Varvok stepped past the eight-foot tall Supreme Commander and walked up to the video feed.

"For one, she can't break free and two, I'm making a point." He began. "Killing humans mindlessly like vermin won't get you results. If you want to hurt them you need to understand how they work. They're highly loyal, intelligent and dangerous aliens. You need to break their spirit. Glassing their planets and murdering their populations en masse will only strengthen their resolve."

"And you know this how?" Thel asked.

"Because when you threaten a human he only comes back swinging ten times as hard," Varvok elaborated. "Their resolve is strong, they are successful because they can take the hit and keep bulldozing through it. My people know this. It's why they sponsor terror groups. It is why Balak started the Swords. You need to make them afraid; you need to turn them into their own worst enemies. Weaken them first, cripple them. Then you strike the finishing blow. It's how my people reign in the slaves. I thought you would understand this, given what it took to bring the unggoy in line."

Thel snorted and walked over to the screen alongside Varvok.

"I understand your past, Varvok," Thel began. "Balak informed us you were a capable leader in your military before you transferred to the Swords. And you come from a long line of... slavers as I understand. Your family funded some of those aforementioned slave rings for your government. Some of them even serve within them."

Varvok grinned slightly, but he misunderstood Thel's words.

"Personally, I find you repulsive," the sangheili told him flat out with a grimace. "War is fought with soldiers, not through slaves. Your continued desire to play as the master of the whip belies the name your own master has given your organization. If you think I'm going to adopt that practice you are sorely mistaken."

The smile disappeared from Varvok's face, he glared back at Thel.

"And what are the unggoy to you, Commander, if not slaves themselves?" He asked.

"They still have a place in paradise," Thel argued, "I doubt you feel the same for your own lessers."

Thel stomped past Varvok, intending to leave the batarian on the command platform while he retired to his quarters. But he was stopped in his tracks by the four-eyed alien's next words.

"You have no defence against biotics," he stated abruptly. "Your people are naked against their power. Even your strongest warriors struggle to fight against their abilities. Shepard is a powerful biotic, and while this one dwarfs him in capability, he makes up for it cunning and there are more like him. Don't mistake that for admiration for him, it is respect for the enemy I'm fighting. If you want to beat him, you'll need to learn how to fight his kind."

Thel thought the suggestion over, he did have a point. Perhaps the female could be useful in understanding the threat.

"And I'm sure Shepard will come for her and his pilot soon." Varvok reminded him. "He probably even knows where she's being held by now, he has his ways of finding out. Kill her now, he'll find out and he'll assume the pilot is next. He'll bring everyone he has, he'll storm the ship and many of your men will die in the process. If he thinks he has time he'll grow complacent, he will try to rescue them with a smaller force and you will be given time to prepare. You need to make him think that he's better off coming in with fewer people. You have the human captain as well, what do you think they'll do if they believe you're executing hostages? What would you do in their situation?"

Probably blow up the prison ship and spare his men the indignity of dying by the hands of the enemy. If they felt the prisoners were already dead, they'd spare no expense in a massive reprisal. And now that they were better organized, they stood a better chance of succeeding.

"If their rescue attempt fails," Thel began slowly, the thoughts forming in his head. "They will have lost a substantial amount of men, including the False Shepherd and members of his flock."

"And if we capture one of them, we can make them talk and reveal the location of the other humans." Varvok added. "Kill prisoners and they'll realise they have nothing to lose. Even if you manage to stave off a full assault, they won't let you take any of them alive and you'll be back at square one, trying to hunt down a bunch of humans on your sacred ring. And they will make it harder for you as time goes by. The sooner you find out where they're hiding, the better."

Thel turned back to Varvok and sighed.

"I'm giving you this chance, Varvok." He told the batarian. "Do not prove my decision unwise."

* * *

Varvok left the command bridge proud of his accomplishments. He had convinced the Supreme Commander that his plan was viable. Balak would definitely be pleased by this. Convincing the Covenant of their value as allies would no doubt be assured once Commander Shepard was finally captured. They'd realise how much more valuable humans were alive than dead. With any luck, the Covenant would assist the slave rings in scooping up human colonies. Just like Balak said they would. Everything was coming together.

As he began walking down the hall, Varvok heard a slight laugh. He turned to see Zek, propped up against the wall in a small alcove. He was spinning a plasma pistol in his talons.

"Heard you talking up the big boss, how'd it go?" He asked.

"Good, the human will remain alive," Varvok answered proudly. "I hope you're not disappointed."

"To be honest I was hoping he would tear your head off," Zek admitted casually. "Figuratively speaking of course, you need to clarify with mandible faces. No offence, I just desperately need the entertainment. Sangheili and their beloved Hierarchs are so damn dull. You're lucky that Empathy is meeting with his fellow Prophets at the moment. You got spared his religious grand standing."

That was indeed a pleasant change to what he had come to expect of seeing Commander 'Vadamee. Varvok hated that long-necked loudmouth talking over every other word. Why he felt he was so important was beyond him. As he understood, he wasn't even that high up in the Chain of Command. There were three other Hierarchs, all more powerful than him and Empathy acted like his word was somehow the "Be All, End All." Granted, those other three probably felt the same.

At least Zek, for all his crassness, wasn't a pompous old windbag. He still didn't like being thought of as potential entertainment though.

"Well, again I am sorry." Varvok told Zek, feigning remorse. "It looks like you'll remain bored as hell tonight. I don't suppose I could make it up to you somehow."

Zek pushed himself off the wall and walked towards Balak with a big old grin.

"Actually, there is something," He said, placing his pistol in its holster. "Come on down to my ship, you know, _The Fallen Serpent_. Me and the crew are having a bit of... a party, I guess. Bit of a wake actually, toast to the fallen of today and for those who made it back with plunder."

Varvok was a bit put off by the sudden invitation, especially after hearing Zek say he had been looking forward to him getting chewed out by the Supreme Commander. He tried to let him down as quickly as possible.

"I'm not much for funerals, to be honest," Vorvak said, as he began to step away.

Zek shook his head and chuckled.

"You don't know how kig-yar party," he said with a smirk. "Trust me, come on down. We can discuss some arms trading if you want. I hear you people got some fine bayonets. We could use something on the ends of our rifles."

Varvok quickly rethought his stance. He supposed he could use the downtime as he had been working non-stop all day. He probably wouldn't get another chance. Plus, he was curious as to how kig-yar celebrated. Or, more accurately, what their alcohol was like.

"Fine, I'll be there when I can," he replied simply.

"Be fashionably late," Zek told him, walking backwards and away from the batarian. "Too early and it won't be nearly as much fun, too late and all the drinks will be gone. See you there, Four-Eyes."

Zek took off after that. Perhaps it was a bit foolish to be considering a party when Shepard was no doubt planning an attack to save his men right now. But really, he couldn't do much at this point. He had given 'Vadamee all he needed, he just had to hope the Supreme Commander would know what to do with it. Besides, Shepard would come eventually and he had no doubt that he would be ready, kig-yar party or no.

* * *

Even though they were safe at last, Shepard didn't feel like celebrating. His thoughts kept drifting back to Joker and Jack, captured by the Covenant and locked away in a cell. He could only hope that the fact the Covenant were keeping them alive meant he had a chance to get them out safely. That still meant getting inside a fully manned, albeit disabled, battlecruiser. They had done it before, but that was when the Covenant hadn't been expecting them to pull such a stunt. That and the fact half the ship was away trying to board the Normandy.

This time, they'd be expecting a rescue mission. The Covenant had to know Joker's importance aboard the Normandy, the batarians had told them everything after all. As for Jack, she was a key member of his crew and the most powerful biotic on the ship next to Samara. On that knowledge alone, alongside the fact they were both his friends, Shepard couldn't just leave them to rot. He had to save them, along with Captain Keyes, before it was too late. He decided to stay on the CIC until he came up with something.

"Commander," said a voice suddenly.

Shepard looked over his shoulder to see it was Miranda.

"EDI says we'll be approaching the UNSC Firebase in a few short minutes." She said as she stared at him.

"Good to hear," Shepard acknowledged, "we'll going to develop our rescue plan with them soon. They have a captain to save, it would be best not to keep them waiting."

Miranda nodded in agreement, a troubled look on her face.

"How is EDI holding up?" Shepard asked her.

"She's still not happy with me." She shrugged. "I've never seen her so distant. I mean, she's a machine. It's a bit... unnerving."

"Joker is a prisoner, along with Jack," Shepard reminded her. "We're all a little unnerved right now. Once we get him back she'll be past it. But I'm guessing that's not all that's troubling you."

Miranda sighed and nodded again.

"I've been stuck all day with Spartan 058." She explained.

"Linda?" Shepard asked, confused at her calling the Spartan by her number.

"I don't think she likes me calling her that." The Normandy's XO replied. "I know she's always in that helmet, but I keep getting the feeling she doesn't like it when I call her that. Like, you know, someone who doesn't enjoy you calling them by a nickname you've only just heard from others."

Shepard could relate to the feeling of trying to communicate to someone whose face was behind a mask. Tali was a lot more personable than a super-soldier who got abducted when she was still a kid, however, so Miranda hadn't had as easy a time. Plus, he'd been stuck all day with the Master Chief, and he got a similar vibe off of him. Shepard looked over to Kelly who, as always, was at her yeoman station.

"What do you think of 058, Chambers?" Shepard asked.

The redhead turned, taking a deep breath as she tried to find the words.

"She's not exactly social." She told him. "I know given the circumstances of today she didn't have much time to interact, but she was very private. She did go down with Jun to look for survivors, but she didn't seem used to the idea. She was always very direct with everyone, but also calm in her speech. And even though she wasn't in charge, she projected herself as if she was. Her suggestions especially felt like orders. She may prefer working alone."

"She was very intimidating." Miranda confirmed. "I don't understand how she worked with the Master Chief if she prefers to go it alone."

"Maybe Chief just gives her the space she needs." Shepard suggested. "And she may not be as familiar with us as she is with him."

"Pack mentality," Kelly suggested. "They've been with each other since they were forced into the Spartan program as kids. They could've developed some kind of hierarchy."

Shepard remembered Halsey's journal, it certainly suggested as much. Chief became the leader according to Halsey, the inductee who led the candidates and then the Thirty-Three who survived and became Spartans. They only had each other, and now Linda and Chief were the last two Spartan IIs left. Much like Kat and Jun were the only survivors of Noble Team.

"You think they may be a bit anti-social?" Shepard asked Kelly.

"That would be putting it mildly," Kelly corrected him. "They've been taught from an early age how to be soldiers. That's not something that doesn't mentally scar someone. They maybe empathise with others, they may make friendships outside their social comfort zone, but it is going to be hard to earn it."

"We're going to need to if we're going to work together." Shepard informed her. "Halsey made sure we'd be travelling with the Master Chief for a reason. More than likely so he could help us, but I imagine we're here for another reason."

"Halsey did seem to plan far ahead of any of us." Miranda concurred. "You don't suppose it's as simple as her wanting us to be friends with him?"

Shepard shrugged at the question.

"I don't pretend to know what Halsey wanted. Tali has her Journal and even she's struggling to figure it out." He explained. "For now, I think its best we try to break into his little circle. We're all gonna need each other if we want to survive this and find out what is so special about this ring."

"We're still labelled as the 'Xeno Ship', Shepard." Miranda reminded him. "That's easier said than done."

"Whatever the case," Kelly spoke up, "I think it would be best if the Commander tried to build a rapport with him. He's already fought alongside him for the better part of the day. It's probably in our best interest if we emotionally attach him to us, along with Linda. We're stranded out here and they and the UNSC are our only way out of here."

Shepard's attention was suddenly pulled away from the conversation when EDI spoke up over the intercom.

"Approaching Alpha Base, Commander," The AI announced. "We're being directed to a landing site they've set-up in the center of the camp."

"Take us in, EDI," Shepard ordered, before quickly adding, "and don't worry, we will find Jeff."

"I know you will, Shepard," the synthetic assured him. "I just hope it is soon."

* * *

Shepard got a good look at Alpha Base from the cockpit. The makeshift human firebase was located on a mesa among a series of alien structures. The walls of the plateau were high and seemingly unassailable to normal means of attack. The elevated terrain gave a good view of the surrounding area, making it a strategically advantageous staging ground.

The butte was already bustling with human activity when they arrived. It was mostly Army Troopers, but there was a healthy majority of ODSTs alongside them. Shepard could see a lot of smaller structures among the alien buildings. They were obviously human, given their Marine Green color scheme. They looked to be big enough to house one person maximum. They would probably be the only sense of privacy any of them would get while they were stuck here. There were also a lot of captured Covenant vehicles around the base. There was definitely a story behind those.

The Normandy touched down on the mesa, the ship shaking slightly upon landing. Moments later, Shepard had every squad member ready to disembark. There was a lot they would need to square away before the rescue mission. Also, the UNSC would need some extra hands around the base. Shepard decided they might as well pull their weight.

"I checked the damage to the Normandy and I have crews already working on repairs." Tali said as she rushed up beside Shepard with a datapad in hand. "We should be back to full strength in a few short hours."

"See about asking some of the UNSC Engineers for help." Shepard suggested. "We're the only operational friendly starship in probably a million light-years. We need to get back in order fast."

"They'll be more than happy to help, I'm sure of it." Tali concurred. "I'm just hoping Donnelly and Daniels can show them the ins and outs. We're very different from the _Autumn_."

It was then a Pelican came in for landing on a pad a few feet away from their landing zone. Climbing out of were several Marines and the Master Chief himself. Despite being a smaller dropship, Foehammer had gotten here just a few short seconds after they had, it seemed. It didn't take long for the Chief to spot them and he quickly walked over to them through the crowd of Marines.

"Commander, good to see you." he greeted Shepard before looking behind him at the other Normandy squad members. "Is this the rest of your crew?"

"Yeah, save for Jack and Joker, of course." Shepard answered. "We even picked up some extras."

Linda walked to the front of the group and nodded at Chief with a finger to her mouth. Chief responded in kind. The gesture was somewhat lost on Shepard, but he guessed it was a Spartan thing.

"You handle yourself without me alright?" Chief asked his fellow Spartan.

"You know me," Linda replied, "give me a rifle and line of sight and I'm golden. We recovered a lot of soldiers. How'd you do?"

Chief looked behind him once to see the Marines that had poured out of the Pelican.

"Sixty-Three Marines last count," he answered, "at least according to Cortana's calculations."

"Plus three ODSTs and most of the engineering crew," The AI was quick to add, speaking through Chief's Armour's speakers. "Pleasure to see you again, Spartan 058."

"Likewise, I guess." Linda agreed, not entirely assenting with the word choice of 'seeing.'

Before anyone else could speak up, Shepard thought he heard someone else approaching. Looking to his right, sure enough he saw the familiar face of Colonel Holland with two of his troopers by his side. Both Kat and Jun were quick to stand at attention as he approached. Everyone else just turned to him.

"Commander, Chief, I told you I'd see you all ground side," he greeted jovially as he stopped in front of them. "I'm guessing your day has been as rough as mine?"

"Not sure, sir," Shepard replied with a bit of a grin. "I can't speak for you."

"I led my squad here on foot after our Pelican took a hit." The Colonel explained. "Although our comms were down, we had an idea where the majority of the ODSTs had landed and hoped to link up. Instead we end up finding them clearing this whole mesa's Covenant garrison. Showed up just when they were cleaning up. I took command shortly after. I was happy to hear that you were all safe and sound when Cortana got through."

If only that were completely true, then they wouldn't be in as much trouble. However, the Colonel being here helped matters. They had a command structure and someone just as experienced as Captain Keyes leading this operation. That boded well for them.

"Unfortunately, we can't say the same for the Captain," Shepard reminded him. "Same goes for two of our own crewmates, I'm afraid."

"Yes, Cortana filled me in before you arrived," Holland replied. "Our top priority is of course rescuing them, but we have quite a bit on our schedule. I hope your crew is more than happy to help out."

"We're all at your service, Colonel." Miranda assured him.

Holland just nodded in response, glad to hear that they had the extra hands. He turned to Kat and Jun next.

"Good to see you both again, Noble Two, Noble Three," He told them formally. "I hate to say it, but I may need you out in the field again soon, even with Shepard's team helping out."

"Rest is for the dead, sir." Kat replied.

Holland just let out a single chuckle. He then looked to the Master Chief and Linda.

"117, 058, it's good to have you both aboard as well." He informed them sincerely. "I know I'm not Keyes, but until he's rescued I hope you won't mind taking orders from me."

"You're the highest ranked officer in an emergency situation," Chief responded firmly. "There is no problem, sir."

"Heh, that's what I like about you Spartans, you never cared much about military politics," Holland answered with a slight grin. "I doubt some of these Marines would be so happy with that situation. In any case, we should get straight to the briefing room we have set up. Major Silva and his second are already there, it's best we not keep them waiting. Shepard, Master Chief, Noble Two, follow me please."

Holland began to walk away. Before Shepard followed he looked to Miranda, Jacob and Garrus.

"You three keep the rest of the crew busy." He told them. "Be ready to leave at a moment's notice. The second we're ready to hit where they're holding Joker and Jack, we're leaving."

"We'll be ready, Shepard." Garrus promised.

With that, Shepard, the Master Chief and Kat followed Holland to the briefing room.

* * *

The briefing room looked like it had been hastily set-up in the past few hours. There wasn't much there except what appeared to be some kind of large glowing blue table top hooked up to a portable fuel cell generator. Shepard could only guess it was a holographic display, similar to ones he used during officers training. He looked across the table to see a stone faced ODST, wearing armour similar to Sergeant Buck's, just with extra stripes on it. He knew the look in his eyes. It said "career soldier" just like his old squad leader's had back in the day. He could only assume this was Major Silva. The woman next to him with the flat-top hair, green eyes and slightly flattened nose had Lieutenant markings on her. She was no doubt his second-in-command, the one Holland mentioned.

"Major Silva, Lieutenant McKay," Holland spoke up to the two as they all entered, "Commander Shepard, Noble Two and Spartan 117. Commander, the Major is the reason we aren't sitting out in the cold right now."

"It must've been a hell of a fight." Shepard noted.

The Major didn't answer. Silva's eyes were locked onto Kat and Chief more than Shepard. It didn't change much, but Shepard picked up on the disgruntled look. Eventually, he responded to the Normandy Commander.

"They put up one, but we managed," he stated, still looking at Chief. "Good Marines find a way, no matter the disadvantage."

Silva's words sounded clean and unemotional, but he could sense the animosity. Still, it wasn't his issue. Right now, Joker and Jack needed him. He didn't really care about much else. Holland started things off, directing Chief to put Cortana into the holotable's CPU. Moments after sticking in her chip, the AI emerged on the table in her virtual form.

"Alright Cortana, we're short one Captain, one pilot and an Ex-Con," Holland looked up to Shepard, asking if that was an appropriate title for Jack with his stare. Shepard just nodded and let him continue. "What do we know about where they're being held?"

Cortana pulled up a holographic schematic above her head.

"The _Truth and Reconciliation_ is your standard CCS-class battlecruiser," she began as the schematics of the ship spun above her. "She's disabled for the moment, but they are repairing her. Until then they're keeping the ship close to the ground and have set up a perimeter around the plateau they're hovering over. Once they're done repairs, however, they will more than likely rejoin the rest of their fleet. Our best chance to save the Captain would be before that happens."

"We have a point of entry?" Kat asked her.

Cortana brought up another display that materialised beneath the holographic ship. It was a pad with an illuminating light shining upwards into the vessel's underbelly.

"This gravity lift is being used to move troops and supplies to and from the cruiser." Cortana explained. "It's our best way in. The docking hangers are more than likely sealed from the inside. We can shut them off from the hanger bay and allow more troops aboard in the process. Until then, I would recommend a small force capable of getting to the gravity lift and then into the ship from there. They can then work their way to the hanger deck and then the holding cells."

"I'm assuming that part will be difficult enough," Shepard surmised with a perched eyebrow. "How about just getting to the lift in the first place?"

"Traffic is sketchy, but that perimeter I mentioned is thick with some of their crack troops." Cortana warned. "Normally, we'd try to overwhelm them with artillery or air support first. Unfortunately, we don't have the numbers for that or the requisite firepower. Attacking head-on is also out of the question. A full assault will be costly and they may kill the prisoners before we reach them. I'm positive a stealthier approach would allow us to easily infiltrate the ship and get the prisoners out safely with minimal risk."

"I agree. We need to play smart with our numbers." Holland concurred. "We won't beat the Covenant through conventional warfare, not here. We need to fall back on guerrilla tactics. Cortana, do you think they're expecting a rescue mission?"

The AI shrugged slightly.

"I would imagine they are." She replied. "They must know we're coming. They know how valuable Keyes is and they must expect we can't just leave him behind. It is also reasonable to assume that the capture of Shepard's two crewmates is an attempt to lure him out into the open."

Shepard grimaced at the thought and clutched his fist into his palm, cracking his knuckles slightly.

"Well then, mission accomplished," he said with a scowl. "Now they're gonna learn the hard way what happens to people who endanger my crew."

"They're expecting an attack," Cortana stated, her voice seemingly advising caution. "Our best bet is to catch them off guard, somewhere they don't expect us to hit them from. I think a bit of reconnaissance first for a possible insertion site would be best. We need to find a chink in their perimeter's armour and preferably the fastest route to the gravity lift from that point."

"We can send out a small Pelican patrol," Holland suggested as he nodded at the intel. "They can take some footage of the area, help us know what to expect."

"I'd like to send someone from the squad along with that." Shepard quickly suggested. "They can drop him off nearby and keep overwatch on the Covenant until we arrive. It should keep us well informed about their movements."

Holland nodded in agreement with the idea before looking back at the holographic ship.

"Can I assume you've already picked out who among your crew is going with you on this one then, Commander?" Holland asked.

"More or less," Shepard replied succinctly. "I've had a lot of time to think it over on the way here. If Cortana is right, and a stealth approach is our best option, then I've already got a few people in mind suited for that kind of OP."

"With respect, I think it would be better if we put a few of my ODSTs on this one instead." Silva stated, cutting in suddenly. "We're trained for these kinds of rescues."

Shepard wasn't sure if he appreciated the Major's words. He remembered how Ashley once said what the words "With Respect" actually meant. He was getting that vibe now from Silva. It was then he subtly wished Williams was here, she'd be able to mouth off for him right back at the Major.

"I'm sure they are," Shepard replied, trying to be respectable. "But it's not just Keyes up there, my people are being held there too. I'm getting them out."

"This mission requires well-trained soldiers, sir." Silva told him with a steadfast look. "I think it would be best if we allocate the members your ship to less personal issues. I can promise I'll bring your people back safely."

"My crew possesses a number of special skills and knowledge your ODSTs don't have." Shepard explained with a bit of tone in his voice. "I think it would be best if you used them. Besides, I'm their CO, I'm pulling them out and I'm bringing my people with me."

Silva glared slightly, looking towards Holland.

"Shepard's crew may look rag-tag, but they're as skilled in their fields as we are," The Colonel informed the ODST officer. "I suggest we allocate our ODSTs resources to other just as pressing matters. Marines and Troopers can easily substitute as extra muscle for the rescue OP."

Silva's head hung a bit low at that before it rose up and looked straight ahead.

"Of course, sir," he answered somewhat gravelly. "Whatever you think is best."

Holland nodded and turned to the Chief.

"I can assume you'll be heading off to rescue the Captain along with Shepard, 117?" He said to him.

"Cortana has the best working knowledge of the Covenant network and I'm the only one that can get her inside to help locate Keyes." Chief replied. "And I'm with the Commander on this one. We don't leave people behind and we need every asset we have to pull this off."

Holland was pleased with the answer. Shepard felt a similar way. He couldn't help but believe the Chief when he said he wouldn't leave someone behind. Although, given what Kelly and Miranda mentioned, he wondered how much of that was conditioning and how much of it was his pack mentality.

Silva, by contrast, didn't look like he was very happy at all. Shepard noticed a little facial tic in the Major's eye before he looked away from the Spartan. Holland failed to see it, already moving on to the next item on their itinerary.

"We have an approximate location on where the _Autumn_ crashed down." He began. "We think she's already been occupied by the enemy. Normally, we'd just write her off, but we don't have enough supplies to last very long out here. Major Silva has proposed a raid on the ship to scavenge what we can."

"That sounds risky." Shepard noted. "Couldn't the Normandy just help keep the rations and ammo up? We have plenty of stock we could spread around."

"No," Holland answered, shaking his head. "The ODSTs brought enough for themselves, but with the rescued Marines and my own Troopers, we've stretched ourselves thin. We're low on bullets, vehicles, food. Point is, we need what's left in the _Autumn_."

Cortana pulled up a manifesto from her memory to display to everyone.

"This is the inventory for the ship." She said. "I can cross-reference it with our own supplies and determine what we're missing. That should help us build our shopping list."

"Good," the Colonel nodded once at the AI, he then turned to Kat. "Noble Two, you'll be running tactical for this raid. You'll be in charge of the ODSTs for the duration of the attack."

Kat simply nodded once in acknowledgement, but Silva suddenly snapped to attention. His eyes went wide as he looked to Holland.

"Sir," he began, "I suggested this OP. I assumed I'd be on point."

"You'll still be leading your selected squadrons," Holland assured him. "But Noble Two will be directing them. She's handled these sorts of infiltration 'snatch and grabs' before."

"So have I and I don't think I require a Spartan to accomplish my goal," Silva argued. "I've been leading my team well enough given the circumstances. I think we can handle this on our own."

Holland just turned to Silva with a stern look.

"Major, both you and Noble Two are on the same level of the Command tree in your respective fields," he explained. "I believe it would be best if you cooperated with her on this mission. For one thing, she could offer extra skills to better secure more supplies. Also, I want Shepard to turn over some of his men to assist in this mission as well. Since she's worked with them before, it would be beneficial to cohesion if she was in-charge of them. That is, if Shepard is willing to allow her temporary command over his crew."

Holland looked to Shepard for the answer. The Commander was more than happy to respond.

"I trust Noble Two," he said as sincere as possible. "She's been a good friend to the Normandy and we've been through a lot together. I don't think any member of my crew would have a problem serving with her."

"The vote of confidence is appreciated, sir." Kat answered back, a pleasant look in her eye at the praise.

Shepard had hoped that would win over Silva a little bit, but he seemed even more put off by the idea. He looked almost incensed at Shepard. Then he stared back at Holland, and found the Colonel's own eyes hadn't left the Major's.

"Permission to speak freely, sir," he began, trying his best to maintain his faltering composure.

"I imagine you'll say it anyway, Major," The Colonel complied, slightly grumbling as he spoke.

"The last thing my boys need on a mission is thinking about the team of aliens with a Spartan CO on their backs," He stated sharply. "Sir, the Spartan program is done, they're gone. I think the experiment has proven a failure on both the Second and Third iterations. We don't need a bunch of fre-" Silva caught himself, noticing Holland's glare. "We don't need Science Experiments and Xenos to do our jobs. We took this place without them. I think we've proven ourselves."

Holland's glare dimmed, his face turned back to a stoic look. He then spoke to Chief without releasing his gaze from Silva.

"Master Chief, do you feel like you're a failed experiment?" he asked.

Shepard looked to the Spartan, and although he couldn't see his face he could see him eyeing Silva intently. He looked down to his fists and noticed they were clutched tightly. Shepard also noticed Cortana's slight show of concern on her face, looking back and forth between both sides of the table frantically.

"No sir," Chief finally spoke up, his voice even and calm. "Not at all."

"Noble Two, same question." Holland continued, still staring at Silva.

"I'm still breathing, so I think I'm still ongoing myself." Kat replied, a slightly less reserved tone in her voice.

That was all Holland needed.

"You'll be working with Shepard's Crew and Noble Two on the raid." He informed the Major. "That is final. Are we clear?"

"Like crystal, sir." Replied Silva as the words slightly sifted through his teeth.

"Right then," Holland said, breaking his stare. "I suggest we get our affairs in order. We'll move under the cover of darkness. It'll be easier to sneak up into Covenant territory that way in both cases. Dismissed."

Holland was first to leave, followed by Silva and McKay. Shepard could sense he was fuming on the inside, despite how much he was reining it in. Chief departed afterwards, pulling Cortana from the console. Kat remained at the table with Shepard.

"Well, the Major seems nice." The Commander spoke up, breaking the silence between them.

"Yeah, in that 'As long as I get what I want' kinda way," Kat added with a growl. "I'd prefer to be going with you and the legend."

"Any advice on working with him?" Shepard asked her.

"Jorge always mentioned that 117 was kinda like the big brother for all of them." Kat explained. "Which is saying something, Jorge was pretty big even back then. I think you're on his good side already, try to keep it that way. Spartans IIs don't open up easy."

"Jorge did," Shepard reminded her. "He seemed pretty friendly given his circumstances."

"Jorge was the exception," Kat warned. "The Master Chief was the model they all tried to live up to. I only know stories, but if any of them are true, then he's seen more than any of us. There's something about him that's separate from the other IIs, Jorge never found out what it was. Just that it made him different. Don't ask what that means, again, even Jorge couldn't be specific."

That certainly made him more mysterious than he originally thought. The more he heard about the Master Chief though, the more he wanted to learn. This was the man Halsey had entrusted their lives to. From what he had seen, he knew they were in capable hands, but if his crew was going to work with him, they needed him as more than just an ally. They needed him as part of the team. He decided to rely on what he did best, talking to people. Experience had shown him that was the fastest way to make friends after all. It got him a whole damn crew's worth of the best people in the galaxy at least.

* * *

If this day hadn't been long enough for him, it was getting there. After dealing with an uppity hierarch, a scheming batarian and a sardonic pirate alongside prisoners, ship battles and human soldiers running about a sacred giant artefact, Thel thought nothing else could go wrong.

Then he heard about the excavation sites, how machines came from nowhere and began gunning down any Covenant in sight. Their weapons cut down many, from sangheili to unggoy. The way the attack was described suggested the machines used laser weaponry and sported shields that protected them from being destroyed for a short while.

It was enough of a delay to leave several dead and halt excavation at more than half of the sites. Unggoy refused to return to active duty and the sangheili in charge didn't wish to put themselves or their men at risk further until they could assure their safety. The idea of dying at the hands of an emotionless automaton did not sit well with many of them.

It was a troubling prospect and one he did not wish to reveal to Empathy. He would have a fit no doubt. He decided to resolve this before he got wind of it. He called up every available Shipmaster he could to his quarters and requested those who couldn't come to contact him by visual transmission. Before long everyone was there, voicing their concerns about the excavation continuing. Some were more vocal than others, most kept quiet while the higher ranked officers spoke the minds and opinions of their men. However, the concerns weren't confined to a single topic. Almost imediaetly, Thel had wished he hadn't decided to make this discussion an open forum.

"It is not bad enough we have the humans to deal with, but the fact half our numbers are forced to stay keeping watch over these excavation sites is madness," stated Field Marshal Tusza 'Valvee with furious indignation. "Now we have to deal with damn machines trying to kill us. We should be seeking out and destroying the humans! Not dealing with... unggoy work!"

"We lost far too many brothers in the machine's initial attack." Field Marshal Luto 'Kalvamee added. "The Hierarch may say differently considering it was only six, but six warriors working excavation dying by the hands of a flying pile of metal is too much! That's not even considering what has happened at the excavation sites that haven't checked in yet. I won't send my men back in to secure a blasted structure that has been completely locked down for eons when we don't even know what we're looking for. For all we know, those things were just the first of many."

"Our ships aren't even being directed to actively searching for the humans." Shipmaster Fetasna 'Saldamee added. "Empathy claims the Inquisitor wants us to form a holding pattern around the ring. Any of our remaining forces aboard are being directed to guard specific sections of the ring, excavation sites or being put on the search for the control room. This is maddening! Our enemy is in our midst and Empathy and his kin are telling us not to fight! We are giving them far too much opportunity to strike!"

"Not to mention the fact the _Truth and Reconcilliation_ now harbours the filthy stench of humans aboard it!" Ship Master Orna 'Fulsamee added as well, with his visage screaming furiously on Thel's screen. "More confusing is the fact we aren't even interrogating them for information!"Are we now capturing the animals, Supreme Commander? Are you going to train them as pets? Is that why we're no longer killing them?"

Unable to respond over their bickering, Thel was forced to slam his fist down on the side of the armrest of his chair. They immediately all quieted, giving him a chance to speak for himself.

"I understand all of your frustrations, I agree with them in many respects," he assured them coolly. "But there is a bigger importance to this operation than humans. Some resources inevitably will have to be used in less glorious tasks and if the Inquisitor speaks truly than the humans will soon be irrelevant."

"But they are not irrelevant, Commander, not now," 'Valvee beseeched him. "We may have beaten them here, but they were travelling here from the start. How do we know not more ships are on their way? If we don't deal with the problem now, it will get worse."

"He's right," 'Kalvamee agreed with a dutiful nod. "I know how humans operate out of desperation. I've seen it on many worlds. They are sneaky and deceitful, resorting to tricks and ambushes against our superior might. The longer we wait to flush them out of their hole, the more opportunities we give them to kill our men."

They all knew that would happen. The humans would react to the situation the only way they could. They would strike from the shadows and undermine their forces. They would refuse to fight them conventionally, preferring to attack in small groups, overwhelming their ability to respond to every problem that arose. Any major attacks would be well organized, quick and forceful. The intent would be to overtake strategic positions through lighting strike assaults, blitz attacks.

"We'll whittle them down to nothing eventually." Thel argued unconvincingly.

"And how many will die before we kill them all?" 'Kalvamee asked once more. "How much of our brothers' blood will be spilled by those heathens upon this holy ring?"

Thel already knew the answer, far too many. The problem remained the same though, what could they possibly do?

"I've already mentioned this to the Prophet of Empathy," he informed them, sounding exasperated as he did. "He says we stay on course. The Inquisitor told us we must continue the excavation as well as the search to uncover Halo's technical functions. It claims it is imperative to the Journey."

"In my opinion, the Inquisitor tells us to do a lot of things." Fetasna grumbled.

Everyone's head turned to the shipmaster, befuddled looks on their faces.

"What do you mean?" 'Valvee asked.

"How much do we really know about this Oracle anyway?" Fetasna clarified. "We find it on some remote world among Forerunner installations and it quickly aligns itself with us and our cause. It leads us to the wormhole, allows us to discover this new dimension, helps us rediscover new technology and potential allies and when we find Halo, the thing we've been searching for since the Covenant's inception, it suddenly stops giving advice and starts practically ordering us around."

"Are you questioning a conduit of our Gods?" Orna asked with a growl.

"We know the Forerunners had problems with synthetics, ones that betrayed them to a great evil," Fetasna reminded them all. "Can any of us say we can truly trust this machine anymore than the ones that just attacked us? It's not really explaining what the purpose behind the excavation is, what exactly we're looking for. What if it has its own agenda? Some sort of goal that it wants to hide. Or perhaps it has simply degraded like the human AIs we've capture, gone mad in isolation."

Thel had to admit, the Inquisitor had become somewhat questionable since the discovery of the ring. It seemed more focused on the task of excavation than the 'False Shepherd'. Although the human heretic leader still remained a top priority, he had suddenly become secondary to the excavation of the ring. And why hide the danger from them?

"Perhaps it is a test of faith." Thel suggested. "A trial, if you will. The Inquisitor is attempting to see how far we are willing to go to stay on the path."

"And if that is not the case?" 'Kalvamee asked. "If we're throwing our lives away for something that is not of the Gods, but of that Oracle's own will?"

"In any case, wouldn't it be more prudent to kill the 'False Shepherd' before he can add to the danger to the excavation?" Valvee asked in kind. "He has already stolen the artefact that was on Reach for his own ends. What if he does the same here?"

Finally, something he could offer a bit of good news on, or at least some kind of assurance.

"If we are lucky he will soon no longer be a problem." Thel explained. "We already have a way to draw him out, the guests Orna mentioned."

Orna looked wide-eyed at the revelation.

"Those things are aboard to draw them out?" He asked in disbelief.

"Varvok claims he will attempt to rescue his comrades," Thel informed him. "Once he does, we will have him."

"With respect, you're focusing too much on the 'False Shepherd' in my opinion."

That was a different voice from the four other officers that had taken up the most time talking. Everyone in the room turned to the voice, while Thel moved Orna's screen towards it so he could get a view of the speaker. It was one of the sangheili at the back of the room near the doorway, a special operations officer named Zuka 'Zamamee who looked rather incredulously at everyone. He had been quiet so far, along with many of the lesser Field Commanders in the room, but he was the first to speak up among them.

"We're ignoring the real threat, Commander." He warned. "The danger is not from a Shepherd, but from a demon who serves alongside him. If the False One is coming, then so will he. We need to be ready to meet and destroy him."

"You refer to the so-called living-weapon, this... human in armour." Thel responded, already know the answer. "I hardly think he is that much of a concern."

"You're expending exuberant resources to kill one human already." Zuka argued. "What harm is there in preparing for a second target?"

"Because the False Shepherd has followers," Thel reminded him. "He gathers people behind him and leads them astray, turns them from the truth of the Forerunners. That is more dangerous than any human with a gun."

Zuka shook his head violently.

"He is no mere human. He is a powerful and deadly enemy." Zuka impressed further. "He has already killed scores of our brothers, more than any of these machines combined. If we truly wish to destroy this human insurgency then he must die."

But Thel remained unconvinced by the Zealot's bluster.

"Your concern is noted," he answered in a tired droning voice. "If this human in armour will indeed be with the False Shepherd, then it is already taken care of."

"But-"

"He will die with him," Thel spoke up, cutting Zuka off. "I understand your anger, he escaped your grasp aboard the human ship and you were gravely wounded in your attempt. You feel cheated, that is reasonable. However, your obsession with this human demon is not constructive to our efforts on this ring. We must remain focused on the larger problem, the False Shepherd's rallying pulpit must be silenced, the humans eradicated and these excavation sites properly secured. We cannot pool all our resources chasing a single human down when he will more than likely come to us within the next few hours."

Zuka stiffened his stance and then bowed his head as respectfully as he could.

"Then, if you are unwilling to listen, I am no longer needed here." He declared. "I will endeavour to end this problem on my own terms. For what it is worth, I hope your confidence in this plan is well placed, sirs."

With that Zuka left, he'd leave the duty of reprimanding him to his direct superior on his own time. That left Thel to deal with his other problem. That being the last one he mentioned to the Spec-Ops officer before he left. It was Orna that offered a solution.

"Sir, you mentioned Varvok." He said suddenly. "Perhaps we don't need to send more of our own men to die against these machines or re-establish a connection with the excavation sites we've lost contact with. He must have reserves... doesn't he?"

He did indeed, he did indeed. Perhaps their solution was a lot simpler than he thought.

"We may have to offer them more money or guns." 'Kalvam suggested.

"We can part with them." Thel replied. "I'd rather not do the same with more of our brothers. We need to return to excavation quickly and get a status report on the ones who haven't checked in. I'll handle it."

One problem potentially solved, but so many more to deal with. Sometimes being Supreme Commander didn't feel worth the hassle.

* * *

"He actually called them 'Failed Science Experiments' right in front of them?" Garrus asked him, aghast at the blatant show of contempt.

"He wanted to call them worse, he held it back." Shepard clarified. "I know ODSTs have a rivalry with Spartans, but you should've seen the way he looked at the Chief, Garrus, He hated him. I think if he had the choice he'd ground all four of them here, along with us. Luckily, Holland is in charge, so we have that going for us."

Shepard had caught up with his turian friend outside, prepping his sniper rifle. Wade began explaining everything that had happened in the briefing room, down to the ugly details showcased primarily by Silva. It didn't sit right with either of them.

"I heard the same kind of things from a lot of turians back in the military," Garrus said as they continued to walk around the grounds of the firebase. "Course back there it was just ordinary soldiers talking crap about biotics, particularly the Cabals."

"Yeah, I remember that, your military is segregated," Shepard remembered as they made their way over to a pile of boxes stacked nearby. "What exactly is your government's problem with biotics anyway?"

"They're a minority and people don't trust them, same story as a lot of groups in galactic history." Garrus reasoned. "Plus they earned a bad reputation as spies and assassins back during Unification. So they make the common soldier uneasy. Thus, the government puts them on saboteur missions or uses them as shock troops. And that further makes the common soldier suspicious of them and deepens the stereotype. I think you humans call it, Catch Twenty-Two? The biotics just don't have a chance to prove to the regulars their value because half the stuff they do involves sneaking around and being shifty."

Shepard could only imagine that something similar was one of the reasons ODSTs seemed so at odds with Spartans. In contrast though, it didn't seem like the Spartans cared all that much about the supposed rivalry. Unless of course, as Chief demonstrated, they or their friends were insulted. If Shepard's reading of the Spartan was right, then he had been plenty offended by now. It was probably best that neither Silva nor the Chief were on the same mission. They would've most certainly not gotten along. Unfortunately, that stuck Kat with the good Major.

"You ever encounter a soldier like Silva?" Shepard asked Garrus.

The Turian stopped and sat down on one of the crates.

"Nah," he said, "but from your description I have seen plenty of him in C-Sec. Lot of officers looking to make a name for themselves. You said he didn't seem very happy he wasn't put solely in charge of the raid operation?"

"Unhappy would be an understatement, he was practically fuming at the Colonel." Shepard reiterated.

"Yeah, definitely looking for a fight, looking to prove himself," said Garrus with a huff. "A lot of C-Sec officers didn't like it when they got pulled off cases or reassigned. The worst ones were the guys who felt the department owed them something or that other officers had it in for them specifically, like Harkin. You remember him?"

Shepard wished he didn't, considering how much of a sleazy scumbag the man was.

"You were never like that?" Shepard asked the turian, changing the subject.

"I never felt I had something to prove, I just hated the rules getting in the way, remember?" The turian answered. "But I would be lying if there weren't some days I didn't feel like Silva. Like I was being held back, like my superiors weren't listening. The difference was I wasn't after credit for my actions. I just wanted the job done. The Major sounds like he wants a medal more than anything."

"He shouldn't take it personally," Shepard reasoned simply. "Holland is obviously more comfortable with Kat taking the lead on things here. He knows her better than Silva and he wants someone he can trust on this one."

Garrus pulled off the scope of his sniper rifle to get at the inside of the chamber. Shepard didn't bother to ask what he was doing. He had known the turian long enough to read and understand certain "habits" of his. Besides, he had more important things on his mind.

"I was hoping you'd go on the raid mission," He finally said. "Kat could use the extra support from you. And since Buck is going as well it could help us build a rapport with the ODSTs in general."

"Figured you'd ask that," Garrus said as he began fiddling with the inside of his rifle. "You want me to make friends with Silva too?"

"I just want you to show his men that we're not the enemy." Shepard elaborated. "The more they work with aliens, the further we'll distance them from Silva's prejudices."

Garrus shrugged before snapping the casing on the rifle closed.

"Worth a try I guess." He reasoned. "And both Buck and Kat are friends of mine, helping them out would be a bonus. I've been meaning to talk to her anyway."

"About what?" Shepard asked curiously.

"Carter," was all Garrus replied with.

Shepard understood and he didn't press. That was something between them, probably one of the few personal matters they could possibly share. He would've asked why it took him so long, but this was Garrus. He got lost in his work sometimes. More than Wade did in fact.

"Just be careful about that topic. Other than that, I'll leave it to you to pick out the other squad members you'll bring with." Shepard told him. "I imagine you already have some ideas."

"You know me, I plan long term." Garrus joked as he screwed the scope back on. "What about you? What are you going to do until the call comes?"

"I'm gonna see if I can talk to the Master Chief a bit." He answered simply. "Maybe he can offer his personal insight for the mission. And I have some other things I wanna go over with him."

Garrus chuckled.

"Good luck," he jested. "That guy hasn't been much of a conversationalist."

* * *

It had been a longer day than he had thought it would be and he still wasn't getting any rest. Kowalski had been looking forward to at least half an hour of some shut eye, but instead he was unloading gun crates with Ellingham to stock the makeshift armoury they had set up in one of the alien structures they found. At least no one was shooting at them or trying to eat them, so he could hardly say it wasn't a step up from their previous situation.

"You think the Covies know the Helljumpers took this pile by now?" Ellingham asked him as they carried another crate of assault rifles inside.

"I'm guessing they're confused as to why they haven't checked in yet." Kowalski replied. "Maybe they have other things on their mind. They've been here for awhile."

"Or they think we don't pose a threat at all and are just biding their time." Ellingham suggested. "I suppose they could just blast us from orbit, but then again, this place seems special to them from what I've heard."

Kowalski couldn't be sure about that. Who knew why the Covenant did half the crap they did? That wasn't a knock against people who wanted to know. It was just an acknowledgement of all the crazy rumours that tended to fill the void when one had no answers. Kowalski had heard every kind of tall tale and theory about the war and their alien enemy since he was just a kid. Ellingham was probably correct, however, when he said this place probably held some kind of sacred significance to them.

They set the crate down and pried it open. Inside there were several assault rifles lined within special foam, enough for two small squads at least. Now they just had to sort them on the assorted racks that had been set up for them.

"What do you think this place is anyway?" Ellingham asked as they began to work.

"If it's sacred to them maybe it was built by their Gods or something," Kowalski reasoned. "It obviously ain't Covenant."

Ellingham looked to one of the alien structures surrounding them and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, not nearly enough purple." He observed. "Probably super old by now if it was made by Ancient Alien Gods. This whole place could probably make those xeno-archaeologists back on earth shit their pants in excitement."

Kowalski continued to work, trying not to think too much about the imagery Ellingham just implanted. He pulled out two assault rifles and placed them on the rack side by side. He carefully placed the ammunition under them in a designated tray for quick and easy loading.

"So how long do you think until the UNSC shows up?" He suddenly asked Ellingham.

"Reach was the last stop before Earth," the fellow Private replied. "My guess is they think it's too risky to track us back here. Not when they're preparing for the big one. My guess is the Covies have got this whole place locked down anyway. So even if they could find us, they'd just strand the rescue party here too."

Kowalski had already thought as much, he just wanted to know if anyone else was trying to lie to themselves. They were on their own here, stuck on some giant ring in space with an armada of alien ships ready to strike them down.

"It's not all bad though," Ellingham quickly added as he pulled out another two rifles. "We got the Normandy and, while it can't get us all out of here, it can help us last a little longer. Plus, we got enough badasses here in camp that we could just borrow one of the Covies' ships and fly the fuck back to civilization."

"Yeah, but you just know if the Covenant are interested in this place, that can't be good news for humanity." Kowalski reminded him. "We ain't going anywhere until the folks in charge figure that out and put a stop to it."

He just knew they wouldn't make it easy for them to do that. The Covenant didn't like it when you messed with what they thought was their stuff. It was going to be a hard fight just to figure out how to stop whatever plan they had for this place.

Even if they did succeed in that mission, the odds of them escaping were against them. The Covenant had Reach in their sights for over a month, slowly crushing the life out of it. They could be patient because they had the time. They could outlast them. That was how they had always worked. On top of all of that, they'd still have to break through the blockade of ships above them. It all made for some pretty dire straits, suffice to say.

Ellingham, however, seemed to have a better handle on things than him.

"Word is they're starting on that now," He explained as he turned back to Kowalski. "Some kind of raid, a counter-attack, happening late tonight. They're rounding up troops for it."

Kowalski's interest was piqued. He turned away from the gun rack and back to Ellingham.

"What's the target?" He asked.

"No idea, but I figure it may have something to do with the Captain." Ellingham surmised. "Course, you could find that out for sure."

"Why me?" Kowalski asked, honestly confused at the statement.

"Well, because the Normandy dudes are supposedly in on the thing," Ellingham explained with a shrug. "I figured you spend so much time with them you could fill us in."

Kowalski sighed. 'Not this again.' He thought. Everyone assumed he was somehow best friends with everyone on the Normandy. They assumed stuff; like that he was on a first name basis with Shepard and that Miranda Lawson woman. Pretty much everyone asked him if they could talk about the latter. They wanted to know if she was available or whether she'd start wearing that catsuit again as opposed to the battle armour she had become accustomed to.

Kowalski had never even met Miranda Lawson, not formally at least. He had seen her now and again, out of her combat gear and in her regular clothes. Well, what apparently passed for regular for her at least. He had wondered what military outfit she had been that let her wear that slim-tight suit with high heels, but he was far too intimidated by her, by all of the Normandy crew, to talk much to any of them. The only person he had any real contact with was Samara and he hadn't bothered to ask if she could introduce him to the rest of her crew.

And now, Ellingham was assuming he had some kind of special knowledge. Even if he did possess that, did he really expect that he would just flat out tell him? There was reason you kept things quiet in the military after all. He decided to set the record straight.

"I do not have a special place at Commander Shepard's briefing room table." He explained. "I don't hang out with them. The only reason I've been around them so much is that I visit Samara and I only talk to her. And she doesn't share much about her work with them."

Ellingham gave a knowing glance and nodded his head. He added a silent 'Oh' as he smirked and his eyes narrowed to a sly look. Kowalski instantly knew what he was thinking.

"It's not like that," He growled at him.

"You're on a first name basis." Ellingham argued slyly.

"It's the only name she's given me," Kowalski grumbled at him. "She says she gave up pretty much everything else when she became a Justicar."

"Well then, what do you talk about?" Ellingham persisted.

Kowalski wanted to just tell him it was personal and leave it at that. He'd been hiding it for awhile now, why suddenly stop? But he knew Ellingham, he wouldn't stop pestering him and if he was going to try and explain it to anyone it might as well be him. Besides, it would be nice to have someone who didn't follow the rumours anymore.

"Reach was bad," he suddenly blurted out after a long silence. "I mean really bad. Not just in the sense we lost, but in the fact we shouldn't have survived. We got hit by a Banshee fuel rod cannon, we should be dead."

"So? We got lucky. Our number didn't come up," Ellingham said shrugging it off. "What's the problem?"

"My problem is that we lived while pretty much everyone else in the unit died," Kowalski replied, frustrated at Ellingham's aloofness. "We got whittled down to nothing, but somehow, for some reason, we got spared. I'm fine with dying, that's the job. I'm fine with the risks, but I just couldn't get past that. We shouldn't be alive. Why were we lucky? What did we do different? Ask yourself that."

Ellingham didn't answer, he just stood there, trying to come up with a response and failing.

"Exactly," Kowalski told him flatly. "We did nothing special. A few more degrees to the left and up and that Banshee shot would've killed us. I tried saying to myself, we lived so we could pay them back for it all. You know, the usual stuff they tell us to say to help us cope. But after watching a whole planet die, well, that sounds more like a pipe dream than a real, practical promise."

"You can't blame yourself for surviving that whole thing man." Ellingham tried to comfort him. "I can get you're freaked out that it all seemed like a roll of the dice in the end, but-"

"I don't blame myself," Kowalski corrected him. "It's just the enormity of it all finally became crystal fucking clear in the aftermath. Jensen killed himself so we could get away. How many others probably had to do the same damn thing that day? I'd probably do it in a heartbeat myself if I could save you guys. Dying ain't the issue. Surviving isn't the issue. The issue is, what if all those guys died in my place when it's not even going to make a difference in the end?"

Ellingham had no answer for that it seemed and Kowalski didn't think he would. He placed some more ammunition clips in the tray before continuing.

"What Jensen did for us is what it will take to win this," Kowalski explained abruptly. "An all-in, last stand, Alamo-type situation, and those aren't good odds for us. Before Reach, I thought we had a chance, now... it just feels like we're delaying the inevitable."

There was silence after Kowalski's outburst. He went back to work, stacking the weapons in their racks. He could tell Ellingham was still staring at him. He knew why and it didn't take long for his fellow Private to speak up.

"You still haven't told me what you talk about with Samara." Ellingham stated.

"I figured maybe she could help me, like I just felt she knew what I was going through," Kowalski explained at last. "I told her about how I met this tank pilot after we got on the _Autumn_ and how he and I had lost most of our units. She said that my concerns were not unwarranted, that chances were good we wouldn't pull through. She said I needed to come to terms with that and make peace with it. Otherwise, it will affect me and I won't be good to anyone."

"Well, did it work?" Ellingham continued to press. "Have you... made peace with it?"

Kowalski slapped one of the rifles into the rack and leaned forward on it.

"Working on it," he replied with a sigh. "Samara says she's probably going to die in battle herself one day. Her job pretty much guarantees it. But she's so damn calm about it, like she's almost looking forward to it. I guess I'm just trying to figure out if I can be as okay with it like she can."

Ellingham nodded at it all, but quickly slapped Kowalski on the back good-naturedly.

"Well, relax dude." He reassured him. "We're gonna make it off this ring, get back to Earth and we're gonna kick the evil aliens in the balls. That's how Marines roll."

Kowalski smiled at his friend's confidence, but deep down he wasn't so sure. He wished he could say the things Ellingham had just said and not feel like he was lying to himself.

"We just gotta work one step at a time and make sure our brothers didn't die for nothing." Ellingham said in his continued attempt at cheering him up. "Our numbers ain't up yet, so let's just focus on keeping it that way until the job is done, okay?"

Kowalski nodded. At least Ellingham wouldn't bother him about him potentially having secret rendezvous with Samara from now on. Maybe the rumours wouldn't completely stop, but at least they'd be more manageable. In any case, Ellingham did have a point. If he really wanted to make himself believe they had a chance again, he had to help out.

He'd see about volunteering for this supposed raid. He could only assume the others were going to try for it as well. With any luck, maybe it would be their first step to getting out of here.

* * *

"You sure we have time for this?" Cortana asked her. "I wanted to go over some details about the rescue mission with the Chief."

"I'll make sure that you have enough time," Tali assured her as she worked on her omni-tool. "I just want to do a diagnostic first. We need to see how you've adjusted to prolonged connection to the Master Chief's uplink. I'm hoping I can give you better control over the armour's defence systems. It should allow you to boost the shields up faster."

"I would prefer his head not getting blown off while I'm inside." Cortana admitted. "And I guess Chief can survive without me for a few minutes. Let's just be quick, we still have a Captain to save."

It was good that she had run into the Master Chief on his way to his personal quarters. It was even better luck that he agreed to let her check up on Cortana. He had handed Tali Cortana's drive and told her to get it back to him as soon as possible. He had done it in his formal, stoic and calm tone that she had become accustomed to at this point. For such a giant of a human, he didn't act at all like he stood above you.

At the moment, she had set up on a mess table, which was now doubling as her workbench. Tali would've preferred to have a proper working station for all of this, but as Cortana mentioned, they were short on time. As soon as she was done she'd had to get Cortana back to the Master Chief. Thankfully she had brought along a portable storage device on her. It was similar to one DOT was supposed to be stored in. This one, however, had a holographic projector inside. It allowed Cortana to appear in her avatar form while Tali worked on her. That meant she could properly gauge the AI's reactions to the diagnostic in real time.

"I'm going to tap into the Riemann-Matrix to see how your mobile capabilities are holding up," Tali informed her with steadily. "You may feel a bit of a tingle."

"I think the matrix is holding up fine," Cortana insisted as she stared at Tali's fingers typing about her omni-tool. "I feel no increased stress over the sudden change in storage space."

"Your matrix is effectively your brain, Cortana." Tali reminded her. "I'd like to be safe rather than sorry when it comes to your mind. Chief's neural interface upgrades are new, just installed, and you two didn't have much time to fully test them. I'm trying to see if there are any side effects."

Cortana shrugged and let Tali do her work. Her appearance shivered slightly as Tali locked into what gave Cortana her intelligence, her personality, everything that made her who she was and held it together. While the UNSC was incapable of producing AIs from scratch, their ability to create a synthetic mind was far beyond that of what Tali had seen in her universe.

The Riemann-Matrix was the software equivalent of an organic brain, different from that of a geth or EDI. It contained the AI's code directory, connecting each piece of data with the other, essentially making them function as artificial neuron impulses. No need to link with other AIs, no need for a giant brain box that takes up a whole room. Cortana's entire being could be held within a single data crystal, highly portable and highly compact. It was an invaluable ability considering her primary function as an infiltration AI.

But with every complex program, you were bound to run into some problems now and again.

"Your memory runtimes seem to have a slight malfunction." Tali observed as data ran across her screen. "It looks like our little stunt we pulled with the Covenant communication scramblers off-set them a bit. Your information recall is affected. I just need to re-adjust them. Then we can move on."

"If you say so," Cortana said with mild acceptance. "I have to admit, I did feel taxed by that whole thing just a bit. At any rate, it was nice to render their little secret weapon useless without them even knowing though. Put a smile on my face."

Tali felt the same way. It was a good feeling, getting back at those bosh'tets, proving that they weren't so damn smart after all. The longer they thought their devices were still working, the prouder she'd feel.

"I guess I can thank you for the fact it's only a minor malfunction," Cortana graciously complimented her. "I'm usually stuck doing most of the heavy lifting when it comes to tech. It was nice to have some help for once. You're a natural with code."

"They always said I was a tech genius," Tali replied, stifling a flattered laugh at the AI's compliment as she continued to work. "I once made a small flying drone out of an eezo-purifier, some scrap metal, a small camera and three small ignition torches. I had the whole thing hooked up to my Omni-Tool. I was only five."

"What happened?" Cortana asked out of pure curiosity.

"I scared over two decks worth of people as I flew it around the ventilation ducts," Tali giggled. "People thought a wild animal was loose, that it was going to contaminate the air supply. It was hilarious up until the point father found out. At the very least he sounded moderately impressed with my building skills. Not so much with my little prank. I was grounded for a week."

Cortana gave a hearty little chuckle at the story.

"Well, you find fun where you can when you're a kid." She replied. "I remember my early chess matches with Doctor Halsey. They were fun enough, but I did enjoy that time I broke into her secure files just a bit more."

"Was she mad?" Tali asked.

"No, turned out it had been a test to see if I could get through her encryption." She explained. "I guess I should've figured that out when she explicitly stated 'don't go into these files.' She was practically begging me to. The files just turned out to contain one of her old thesis papers. It was on... archaic line commands, if I recall correctly."

Tali furrowed her brow a bit, her typing on her omni-tool increasing rapidly as she did.

"Are you sure?" She asked politely.

Cortana looked up inquisitively for a second before suddenly saying aloud

"Yes, it definitely was on archaic line commands." She said confidently. "Absolutely positive."

Tali wasn't surprised all that much at the test Cortana had been given. Halsey was all about the test and the experiment. She had a weird way of doing things, highly scientific with no room for deviation. She had tested Tali constantly in the short time where she had played her student. Each had a hidden meaning, and Tali was still wondering what each specifically meant. Some had been obvious, others not so.

One example was when she had wanted her to craft an improved vulnerability scanner program and test it. She did, successfully, but the real purpose became clear when she had to test it. With nothing but Halsey's own computers to use, she tested it there without the Doctor's expressed permission. She ended up finding potential problems within Cortana's fragment, which had curiously been hooked up to Halsey's systems.

When Halsey returned, she revealed that had been the plan all along. It had all been a test to see Tali find her own system vulnerabilities in order to correct them. Its other goal was to help her recognize them in AIs, specifically Cortana. In the end, every test related back to Cortana in some way. Now, those lessons were being put into practice.

"Can you recall what date the thesis was made?" She asked the bright blue AI.

"It was 2507," Cortana stated immediately. "She would've been fifteen."

Tali knew about Halsey's Child Prodigy status. She was impossibly brilliant in almost every way after all. That hadn't been the point of the question, of course. She had been working the entire time the conversation had been going. It was a habit she had honed for years, and perfected in her time on the Normandy. Tali looked at her omni-tool's screen and the information flying across it. She then nodded her head in approval.

"Well, if you're able to remember that detail so clearly, I can happily say your memory recall is back to normal," She told her contentedly. "Your runtimes are back at full operating capacity. You won't have trouble recalling a simple detail like the contents of a thesis paper again. I also tweaked your input functions. You should be able to absorb more information at faster speeds without being too overwhelmed now."

"I am a bit of a glutton for intel," Cortana grinned at the prospect. "Considering how big the Covenant Battlenet is, that will make keeping tabs on it easier. Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Tali assured her. "It was no trouble, really."

She moved onto the next item on her list, giving her better connection capability to the Spartan armour. Luckily, Cortana had the skills to do most of that work on her own. Tali just wanted to boost her interfacing capabilities, which would allow her more control over the defensive systems in the armour, the shields chief among them. While she worked on that, she continued to talk with Cortana.

"Can you tell me how the neural connection is holding up?" She asked her, a slight hint of concern. "Is there any sudden backlash from the systems in Chief's armour? Did you see any potential future problems?"

"Nothing, other than some possible Heads-Up Display upgrades." Cortana assured her. "The armour is still holding up well, although he may have to upgrade. There's a new mark already being pushed into service last I heard. When we get back we'll probably have to look into it."

Tali just hoped that they did get back and off this strange ring. She was curious about the place, but she would've preferred a more even fight. As it stood, a Covenant armada against their tiny band of survivors wasn't a fight so much as it was them trying to stay alive. If they could just steal a ship, they could get everyone out of here. But first, Joker, Jack and Captain Keyes had to be rescued.

She hoped they were okay, Joker more than anyone. Jack could hold out as long as she had to for them to get to her and they'd keep Keyes alive for awhile longer. But Joker, well, next to her he was the most fragile member of the crew. Sure, she was stuck inside a suit and always fearing risk of contamination, but Joker could break an arm just by tripping. She hated thinking of what he was going through, a bunch of zealot bosh'tets like the Covenant wouldn't give a damn about his condition.

She needed to get her mind off that, focus on her work. Joker would be fine, Wade would save him. It was a foregone conclusion with the Master Chief going with him. She tried to think of something else, something to ask Cortana that would take her mind off of Joker's predicament.

"I heard from Garrus that things almost got heated during briefing," she began, clearing her throat as she did. "I get the impression that this Major Silva doesn't want us around."

"Don't take it too personal," Cortana reassured her. "He doesn't like Spartans or aliens from what I could see. He's not singling anyone out, well maybe the Master Chief, but in general he seems to dislike everyone who isn't one of those two equally. That's a bit comforting, for what it's worth."

"I just don't understand why he'd try to make a scene like that given our situation," Tali grumbled, a mixture of anger and disappointment in her voice. "I thought we had proven ourselves already, back on Reach and all the hours we put in on the _Autumn_. I was hoping we were coming together, I'd hate to see one disgruntled officer start tearing that apart."

Cortana crossed her arms, not exactly sharing in the concern.

"Silva may not like that the Spartans are here and that he has to work with aliens, but I doubt he'd risk jeopardizing the mission over whatever grudge he has," the AI said confidently. "Let him keep that chip on his shoulder if he likes it so much. We'll get the real work done and then fly everyone home, regardless of origin."

Tali could at least share in that sentiment. Perhaps she was getting a bit cynical. Seeing what her father, Cerberus and, most recently, Colonel Ackerson had all done or tried to do had worn on her. People did selfish, cruel and stupid things when they were afraid, angry or just plain greedy. She wondered to what extent her ancestors were guilty of just those things and, by contrast, how much she was. A few months ago she wouldn't have wanted anything to do with the little blue AI standing in front of her. Now, she was doing maintenance on her. She wondered what her father would say, what Auntie Raan would say, what anyone back on the Flotilla would say if they saw her now.

"So why are you so trusting of us?" Tali asked Cortana, her thoughts speaking the question aloud to the AI before she even realised what she was saying. "You're an AI, built during a time of war, for a military that has been defending humanity from hostile aliens. Why are you so willing to trust us?"

"I'll admit, it did feel a bit weird the first couple of weeks we worked together on the _Autumn_," Cortana replied earnestly. "I had gotten use to the idea of aliens being the enemy myself. But I kept reminding myself of all the things you and your team went through on Reach. What you did to save as many human lives as possible. That was reason enough to give you all a chance."

It was a good answer, but Tali felt just a bit disappointed at it. She was expecting something else. She turned her head to go back to work on the diagnostic, but Cortana wasn't done talking.

"Also, you're just fun to talk to," Cortana admitted pleseantly. "Halsey understood data points and theories and programming, but she was very strict about all of it. You had to catch her in the right mood, and usually you had to discuss work... or chess strategies."

Tali could relate to that a bit and she wondered if that meant something. Halsey said stuff like this could happen. She said Cortana would adapt in this way, that her mind would reconcile memories. She said that the AI's opinions and values would expand and grow from the shared experiences. Was this the first step in Cortana's "evolution" as Halsey had called it?

"I can't be that exciting," Tali told her modestly. "I mostly talk about code and programs, I'm not that much different from Halsey."

"Yeah, but you share a lot more than that." Cortana reminded her. "That story about that drone you built just now, your adventures on the Normandy, your experiences with your crewmates, it's been interesting. I've kinda looked forward to your regular visits, for whatever the reason, if only because I enjoy our chats. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I feel comfortable around you."

Tali did her best to hide her joy at Cortana's answer. It was more than just simple logic, it was an actual connection. Better yet, it was born out of growing familiarity, not immediate. This was genuine trust, not manufactured. It was in tandem with Cortana's values and beliefs, nothing else. There may have been shared elements, but only enhancing what was already present. That meant this was a natural feeling, as natural as any AI could feel amity with someone else at least. This boded well, not just for herself and Cortana, but the Master Chief.

The thing that kept her from getting too happy, however, was the fact she had to keep lying. It wasn't the right time yet, not according to Halsey. It could be too traumatic. AIs already had enough going on inside them. They were delicate things, tenuous beings. They needed care, they needed guidance, and that was Tali's job with Cortana. She needed to help her so that she could help the Chief. Unfortunately, that meant concealing the truth, for now. She just hoped that, when the truth did come, Cortana would understand why she kept it from her.

"That's very kind of you to say Cortana," she said sincerely. "I look forward to our little talks too. And if you enjoy tech talk and stories so much I could always introduce you to Kasumi. She's the only other person on the Normandy who is as good with code as me, next only to Garrus actually."

"I would like to meet the rest of the crew in person." Cortana admitted. "We are going to be working with each other for awhile after all. I just don't know if we'll have the downtime to do it properly."

"Oh, I'm sure we can set up a play-date or something."

That chipper dry wit voice that came from nowhere could only come from one person. Tali sighed outwardly.

"How long have you been here Kasumi?" She asked, not sounding surprised at all.

Kasumi's cloak dropped and the thief appeared right next to Tali wearing a sly grin on her face.

"I liked the drone story too." Kasumi replied, answering Tali's question in her typical way. She then turned to Cortana. "Hey there, so you're the one who's been preoccupying my friend all these weeks. She was more invisible than me sometimes. That is an accomplishment let me tell you."

"Hello, Kasumi, at least I'm assuming." Cortana greeted. "I'm guessing you're getting ready for the upcoming mission in your own way."

"Pretty much," the thief answered grinning. "The art of sneaking is something that is continually perfected and one can never slack in preparedness for a job."

"You know, you don't always have to be invisible and then pop-up out of nowhere," Tali told her sarcastically. "You could just walk up and say hi. You know, like a normal person."

Kasumi just laughed.

"Oh normal is boring." She retorted. "Besides, you love not knowing where I'm gonna turn up. I'm a never ending surprise party!"

Tali rolled her eyes and laughed a little.

"Knowing you Kas, any kind of party involving you would probably end in most of the alcohol stolen along with the guest's valuables." Tali joked.

"And rooftop gunship battles." Kasumi added quickly. "Oh! And priceless stolen artefacts locked in an impenetrable vault too. It's pretty much a given that, if nothing else, us thieves know how to party."

* * *

The _Fallen Serpent_ was an oddly named Covenant ship, not nearly as flowery or religiously charged as others. Varvok wondered if the name was another way of bucking Covenant tradition on Zek's part. He hadn't got to see much of the ship when he first came aboard, just the hanger bay. He did not know what to really expect when he got to the galley, where the festivities were taking place. If it was anyone else's ship, he would imagine it would be solemn and refined. They treated these world-glassing death machines like temples after all. He could only assume Zek didn't see it that way.

Varvok stepped off his shuttle and into the hanger bay where he was met by Retz, Zek's first mate. They hadn't really talked that much when they were down on the planet together, but it seemed now he'd get the opportunity. Retz was older looking than Zek, at least by five or six years. His feathers were longer, redder and fanned out from his head. He also wore a helmet that covered most of his face but stopped at the tip of his beak. He was wearing a pair of shield gauntlets with a holstered pair of plasma pistols.

No one else was there to see him. Varvok had expected Zek to be the first kig-yar he saw. He was probably too busy playing host.

"Lieutenant Commander Varvok, welcome back aboard our humble vessel," Retz began. "I apologize that our shipmaster is unable to be here, but he made sure I would be so you wouldn't get lost on your way to the galley."

Varvok looked around to see that the hanger bay was completely bare save for them.

"Where is everyone?" He asked.

"Practically the entire crew is partaking in revelry and by now are far too inebriated to properly find their way here." Retz explained. "Anyway, Zek wanted to see you personally when you got aboard. We shouldn't keep him waiting. We'll find him in his quarters. It's through the galley anyway. Come with me."

Varvok followed Retz through the winding halls of the _Fallen Serpent_. Every now and again he saw a kig-yar in a corner or alcove, huddled up with a cylindrical bottle. He wondered how fashionably late he was if there were already some who had had too much to even stand. In fact, Varvok was wondering how any of them could be drunk at all.

"I was under the impression that the Covenant weren't approving of alcoholic revelry." He observed.

"It depends on the celebration actually." Retz clarified. "But yes, we are supposed to limit our consumption when we're on active duty. In general, drunkenness is frowned upon. However, Shipmaster Zek decided we are no longer on duty, and the shipmaster's word is law, so we're not breaking any rules."

"That sounds like you're stretching things a bit." Varvok told him.

Retz just smiled.

"That's how I intend to explain it if anyone finds out about this," he replied grinning. "The Covenant book of military conduct has so many loop holes when you actually read it. You just need to know how to work them."

Varvok past by another passed out kig-yar and picked up his empty bottle. It was near empty, but contained a bright orange thick fluid that didn't look like any kind of beverage he had seen.

"What exactly are you drinking?" he asked Retz hesitantly.

"Chorka Ichor," Retz answered bluntly. "It's native to our home planet. Chorka are big sea mammals that are constantly covered in ulcers and the like. Disgusting looking, but it apparently helps them attract potential mates. It also has extremely potent natural alcoholic properties that when properly refined makes the perfect party beverage."

Varvok decided then and there to avoid the bar for the duration of his stay aboard this ship. The very thought of drinking the secretions of a giant ocean-based animal was utterly repulsive. Why couldn't anything about the aliens in this universe be normal? He gently put the bottle down and continued walking with Retz.

"I imagine that this Ichor is difficult to acquire," He reasoned. "After all, we're so far away from your home planet."

"It's also banned by the Covenant, meaning it's doubly difficult to acquire," Retz informed him. "But I have my ways. Having them shipped in plasma conduit crates is the easiest of ways. No one bothers to check those things because they're so volatile, so they usually just let them pass right on through."

"What if someone does bother to look though?" Varvok asked.

"I make sure there are four conduits on top of everything for just that reason," Retz answered. "The Ichor is hidden under them. It's worked pretty well so far, no one has caught us yet."

Varvok had to admit he was somewhat impressed by the smuggling operation. He wasn't very impressed with how open Retz had been about it, however.

"Why are you telling me this exactly?" He asked. "I could expose your side project to your Commanders."

"No you won't, because there wouldn't be anything in it for you." Retz replied. "The sangheili would take all the credit, you'd get a pat on the back in return and they'll never speak of it again."

"You seem so sure of that," Varvok told him with an air of suspicion. "May I ask why?"

Retz just snickered.

"Why do you think I started doing this in the first place?" He asked back.

Retz stopped in front of a nearby door before continuing.

"When we first got pushed into this job they had us sniff out potential smugglers in the Covenant ranks," He explained with a bit of a sigh. "The sangheili gave us a few measly credits for our time and then took all the credit for the arrests. So, when most of the competition was gone, we filled the vacuum and the sangheili got what they paid for. Smuggling goods for ourselves and other kig-yar is far more profitable in the end than preventing it. Besides, I wanted to try out a new method anyway. Even if you do tell, I already have something else prepared in advance. If there is a surprise search of plasma conduit crates, they won't find Chorka Ichor in them."

Varvok shook his head in disbelief.

"You can't possibly have that many connections." He told him with a bit of a sneer.

"Do you really want to risk your tenuous relationship with the Supreme Commander finding out if I do?" Retz asked with a cocky grin.

In the end, Varvok didn't care at all about Retz's smuggling. If they wanted to drink this disgusting stuff let them. It was their business, not his.

"I suppose there's no harm in letting you drink yourselves under the table." He told the kig-yar first mate. "I don't suppose you have anything else to drink at this little get together though?"

"I wouldn't know. I never touch the stuff myself." Retz informed him. "You never sample your own product, plus someone has to be able to actually fly this thing."

Retz activated the door and it opened up with a chime. Inside was the galley where the party was already underway. There was loud alien music playing, flashing lights parading across the ceilings and walls and all over the galley were kig-yar. Every single one of them was drunk off their asses. They were either rough housing each other, arm wrestling, firing needles into targets on the wall, dancing on top of tables awkwardly or chugging down ichor like there was no tomorrow.

"Zek said this was something of a wake!" Varvok shouted aloud over the screaming tune. "Is this how you commemorate the fallen where you're from?"

"No! That's just the excuse for tonight!" Retz explained, trying to be heard over the pounding music. "Every now and again, Zek just feels like breaking open the Ichor crates for no other reason than he wants everyone to let off some steam! It could be for any occasion, but it's always like this! It's tradition!"

"What kind of tradition?" Varvok asked.

"Why, it's Pirate Tradition, of course!" Retz replied laughing. "What else would it be? I thought you heard what the long-necked loudmouth called Zek! I assumed you knew!"

He did recall Empathy chastising Zek, calling him a pirate, but he just assumed that was just a derogatory term for mercenary or thug. He didn't actually think Zek was a pirate, mainly because pirates didn't join genocidal crusades.

"I thought it was just a figure of speech!" Varvok shouted back as the music boomed. "You don't seem like regular pirates! Not like the ones I know at least!"

Retz chuckled at that.

"I suppose fighting a war is a bit out of place for our job description," Retz admitted with a shrug and a roll of his eyes. "But it's all in service to the glorious Journey to paradise that shall await us all! For I am proud to serve the will of the Forerunners! For my life is meaningless without it!"

Varvok raised his left pair of eyebrows at that little speech. It seemed far too readily made, too clean and direct.

"That sounded a bit rehearsed to me!" He told him.

"It works on those stupid Jiralhanae and even some of the Sangheili Zealots," Retz told him with a laugh. "You're smarter though, so I'll admit it's a pretty easily seen through lie for people of your standard! Still, the act gets me places when I need it too! You need to play the part they want you to play sometimes, especially when you need extra guns. Know what I'm saying?"

Retz ushered Varvok to keep following him. They walked through the assortment of rowdy crew members partaking in their shows of machismo and drunken sing-a-longs. They certainly were a lively bunch when they weren't on duty. It somewhat reminded Varvok of his own men and how they took time off. Of course, they never had a full-fledged party like this.

As the music volume began to lower with a new song, Varvok spotted something a bit more risqué among the festivities. There was a holographic image of what appeared to be a female kig-yar, half-naked of course. She had more vibrant feathers that circled her face and sleeker legs that arched upward, like a turian's. The biggest difference was that on her forearms, as well as the back of her head when she spun around, were calloused plates. Varvok wasn't sure what they were for, but it certainly made her stand out from the males.

Unsurprisingly, the image was dancing for the kig-yar around the table. They were all crowing at the fake woman as she pranced around for them, even asking for her to come home with them. Varvok wasn't sure if that was the Ichor talking or if they were just desperate.

"That's the closest any of them have gotten to a female in years." Retz explained. "If it wasn't for those holograms they probably wouldn't even remember what they look like at this point."

"Does the crew have a preference for any one program?" Varvok asked.

"There's the one with the two females in zero-G and the pouring shower of sparkling Eastern Eayn Wine," Retz answered. "It took ages to get that one. One of the dumbass long-necks saw five seconds of it and burned his retinas with a plasma pistol out of shame. Pretty much every copy was destroyed after that."

"Really?" Varvok asked, rather shocked at the story.

Retz grinned, seemingly in victory, at Varvok's earnest question.

"Actually, no, none of that is true. That's probably one of the tamer holos to be honest." He admitted slyly. "I just wanted to see if you would buy it. I need to keep up the craft you know. Come on."

Varvok shook his head as Retz led him out of the galley and back into one of the halls. They soon came to a small door just a few feet away from the party that was still raging in the other room. Retz stopped there and turned back to Varvok before they entered.

"Zek's quarters are here." He began. "One thing to remember, just go along with whatever he says. He's probably in the usual state he puts himself in when these celebrations occur."

Retz opened the door to reveal Zek's quarters. It bristled with swords and guns adorning the walls, a holographic star chart at the back of the room and a medium sized working console with a shipmaster's hover-chair behind it. Zek was nowhere to be seen, but he was most certainly there. For one they could hear groaning and mumbling, and second the floor was littered with empty cylindrical bottles. All of it indicating, to no one's doubt, the aftermath of a binge.

Retz sighed at the scene.

"Yep, he got into the Ichor cabinet again," He groaned.

Zek finally pulled himself up from behind his console desk. He was accompanied by the sound of bottles being pushed out of the way with his feet as he stood. He still had a half full large bottle of Ichor in hand and his Mohawk was now muddled and drooping. He noticed Varvok almost immediately.

"Four-Eyes!" He said in a slurred voice. "Ya made it! I knew you were too curious to stay away."

"Hello again, Zek." Varvok greeted. "I see you have been having a wild time. It's barely even dark yet."

"It's after hours somewhere in the galaxy." Zek laughed as he struggled to keep standing. "I hope Retz has been treating you well."

"He's quite the tour guide I'll give him that." Varvok said as he looked down at the kig-yar smuggler.

It was only then that Zek seemed to notice what was littered all around him, as his head started darting about the floor.

"Retz, who left all these bottles in my cabin?!" He demanded to know furiously.

"That would be you, sir." Retz replied matter-of-factly.

"Unggoy shit!" Zek slurred back. "Someone got into my personal store again!"

"Again, that would be you, sir," Retz informed him bluntly.

"Says you!" Zek pointed at him accusingly.

"Sir, the cabinet is coded to your biometrics. You're the only one that can access it," Retz reminded him flatly.

Zek thought for a moment and then shrugged.

"Meh, guess you're right," He said as he fell back into his chair. "Ah well, I'm gonna feel this in the morning."

Varvok pushed through the bottles as he approached the console, Retz by his side.

"Glad, you could come." Zek told Varvok. "Wanna share a bottle with me? I think I got one left."

"I'm fine, Zek, but thank you." Varvok assured him.

Zek just shrugged again and began guzzling his drink down his throat.

"So," Varvok began, not entirely sure what to talk about. "You never told me you were a pirate."

"I thought it was obvious." Zek said, pulling the bottle back and staring up at the ceiling.

"That's what I said," Retz added quickly.

Zek just sniffed in through his beak's nostrils and then let loose a disgusting sounding burp before he continued.

"Anyway, technically we're privateers now," he clarified with a grimace. "We work for a bunch of stupid religious shit heads now. Killing and stealing for them instead. Because that's how life works I guess. Join the Covenant or die! Follow the Forerunner path or die! Paradise and all that other swill they stuff down your throat. Give me Ichor I say! It never lies! It never tells me what I can and can't do! That's why the longnecks hate it!"

Zek began guzzling again. His babbling had nonetheless peaked Varvok's interest. He still wanted to know why someone like Zek was here if he hated it so much. Why take part in a cause you don't believe in? He'd understand if it was for money or guns or his own agenda, like he was. Zek, however, didn't seem to think either of those was worth it. For Varvok, the cause of the "Swords" meant everything to him, second only to his men. For Zek, the cause couldn't have meant less to him. He already had an idea why.

"So, is that what these parties are about?" He asked. "You get to be yourselves for once? You drop the act of pretending to go along with everything, which you barely do already."

"No!" Zek insisted, some of the ichor drooling down his face. "It's to get rip-roaring drunk! What other reason would it be?"

Varvok just sighed, along with Retz who was shaking his head.

"If you hate it so much, why don't you just leave?" Varvok asked.

"Cause then they'd kill me and everyone on this ship!" Zek declared. "Just blast us right out of the void, just like they did to my old man."

Varvok turned to Retz for clarification.

"Zek's family has been pirating since the seafaring days on Eayn," He explained with a little bit of pride. "It's a tradition that's been handled down from father to son for generations. Most of the time, it's through a less than official liaison of sorts."

"A whore." Varvok said bluntly.

Zek got riled up at the comment.

"Do not use that fucking word." He grumbled, staring at the ceiling again.

Retz continued once Zek had calmed down. Varvok would be sure not to say that word again in his presence.

"Yes, Zek's mother was a lady of the night." He explained cautiously. "His father was the late great Captain Dread Feather."

Zek chuckled at that.

"Ha! Great, right. A father leaves a single woman to raise a kid herself," Zek complained. "Works her fingers to the bone, all for a life of pirating and stealing and crime, fucking bastard. Some great guy, huh?"

"Zek's father avoided the Covenant for many years." Retz continued quickly. "Then he started antagonizing them. Raided their ships, supply lines, their bases, anything he could find. He became something of a folk hero, until the Covenant caught up with him. They offered him a chance to surrender, he didn't. Six ships engaged an entire armada. This one was the only one that escaped. Zek's father perished in the battle and went down with his flagship."

Zek growled in a low tone before sitting up right at last in his chair.

"Stupid fucker," he said groggily. "Died stupid and arrogant and stupid. Fucker got what was coming I say!"

"That was all way before the war with the humans of course." Retz quickly clarified. "Zek was barely in his teens."

"Then how did you get into piracy when your father was already dead?" Varvok asked Zek.

"Destiny, friend." Zek said bringing up his bottle. "I was found by his surviving crew and when I was old enough they made me the captain, my father's first mate retired and I picked Retz as the new guy because he makes for good company."

Zek's head fell back in his chair as Retz continued for him.

"We managed to carve out quite a niche under Zek's leadership after that," he explained with a bit of pride. "Sadly, we caught the attention of the Covenant soon after. This was smack dab in the middle of the war with the humans mind you, but they still wanted to put down kig-yar pirates who hadn't folded to their will. They gave us the same choice as Zek's father, surrender and join or die."

"Two guesses what I picked?" Zek laughed. "Hint! It's the former!"

"No lingering resentment for the fact they killed your father I take it?" Varvok asked.

Zek pushed himself up onto his console desk and looked angrily ahead.

"That bastard got himself and his people killed because he was a selfish jerk who only cared about himself!" He shouted in a rage. "He fought when he knew they were all gonna die! He got his people killed, his whole fleet devastated, and for what? What did he gain? Except the easy way out! Take everyone down with you was his motto! Well, fuck him! He's dead now! And I'm the smart one! I won't make those mistakes! I'm a better pirate! The better bird! I saved my men! Fuck him! May he rot in whatever part of the cold vast emptiness that makes up the universe! Forever and ever!"

Zek threw his bottle across the room. It shattered on a display of some swords that hung on the wall. They clattered to the ground as bits of glass and what was left of the ichor rained on them. Zek threw himself back into his chair.

"I saved us. Only choice." He mumbled. "Only choice. Saved us. Not worth sacrifice of men. Couldn't let them die."

Zek began to drift off again. Retz then gathered up the bottles and began to dispose of them properly. He threw the glasses into a recycling storage chute at the back of the room one by one.

"He saved us at the cost of our freedom." He told Varvok. "He's never gotten over that. He takes all the blame for what that decision has reduced us to. How it made us Lap Dogs of a militaristic group of fanatics that we must forever answer to. None of the crew blames him, it was an impossible choice. But he tries constantly to make it up to us. He sticks up his beak at authority, crows off to any sangheili he can, he mocks religious doctrine, and he organizes these little parties so we can remember the good old days."

Varvok looked at a now slumbering Zek, his tongue sticking out of his beak as he rested on his chair.

"That can't be a healthy outlook." He observed.

"It's not, but at least he doesn't pretend that we're anything but pawns," Retz said in his defence. "The only solace he can take away from all of this is that by making that deal at least we're all alive. It's better than being dead. Even if we're stuck fighting a war we don't believe in."

"Which you're all dying in anyway," Varvok stated, pointing out the contradiction.

"I told you, it wasn't an easy choice." Retz informed him as he scooped up more bottles for the recycling chute. "If your people were on the line, would you have done anything different?"

Varvok supposed not. If it came down to a decision like that, surrender or death, he would not let his men die needlessly. Not if he could prevent it somehow, make sure they didn't suffer at the hands of the enemy. Regardless, he remained steadfast.

"Drinking himself into a stupor isn't the answer." He stated. "Perhaps he should find his own reasons to fight."

Retz just laughed.

"Is that what you tell yourself?" The kig-yar asked. "That your cause is somehow noble or just. You found some way to make it your own I suppose?"

"Every soldier has to make the war they fight matter to them in some way." Varvok argued. "I do what I do in service to my people."

"Hmph, interesting philosophy," Retz said dismissively. "I agree that Zek doing this to himself is unhealthy. I hate seeing him like this. He has nothing left but his men. There is no cause, no great vision of the future, just survival for us, plain and simple. We can't force ourselves to find meaning in a meaningless existence. Zek only keeps this up because as long as the _Fallen Serpent_ and her crew lives, maybe we can keep the pirating life we once lived alive in some form. But that has nothing to do with this war. There is no Paradise or Journey for us, just this ship."

Retz put the last bottle in the recycler and turned to Varvok at long last.

"What about you? Do you really think you can continue fighting this war when you yourself don't believe in this garbage they spew?" He asked with a glare.

"I'll do what I must for my people." Varvok claimed.

"Heh, you're in for a rude awakening, pal." Retz informed him crassly. "Everything you've seen tonight is part of a culture and tradition that the Covenant destroyed. It bulldozed it over to make way for the damn Journey. More and more, there are kig-yar who are abandoning who they are for the Covenant because they know no alternative. We're one of the last vestiges of individuality here among our species and even we're dying out. Before long, they'll suck you in too. And then, you'll be the one holding parties to remember what it was like before you had to pray to a bunch of dead ancient aliens and their floating space ring worlds."

Varvok grimaced at Retz. The accusations and grim prophecies didn't sit well with him. He walked to the door intending to leave this nostalgic tribute to lost debauchery behind.

"If you really care about your people, I got some advice," Retz told him as he left. "Do yourself a favour and get out while you can, before you're forced to make Zek's choice."

Varvok looked back once and then left the captain's quarters. He'd show himself out and leave the after party to Zek and his men. He tried not to let him and Retz get into his head too much. He had things to prepare. Shepard would be along soon. He would need to be ready.

* * *

As Shepard was working his way through the camp towards the Master Chief's quarters, he considered how the Spartan's mood was. The briefing seemed to have left a bit of a mark on him as far as he could tell. Would he even want to talk to anyone? Regardless, he had to try and engage him in some kind of dialogue. They were on the same team now, with both his Captain and Shepard's crew in each other's hands. If they were going to work together they would need to do so as a team.

That was one reason. The other was that Halsey had intentionally led them to cross paths. Whether it was for their protection, to give him back-up or some other reason, Shepard still didn't know. Whatever the case, Halsey had wanted his team to keep close to the Chief. If she felt it was important, given everything Halsey had done for them, he had to trust that she had a purpose behind it. The only way he'd figure it out was if he got to know the Spartan.

Unfortunately, his meeting would be delayed by a few more minutes. As he rounded another corner among the ruins, someone called out to him.

"Commander!"

Shepard turned to see Major Silva catching up to him from behind.

"It was good that I caught you, sir," he said to him, a slight but strange smile on his face. "I feel as if some things came out wrong in the briefing and I just wanted to set things straight."

"I believe you did that well enough, Major." Shepard replied, trying to sound polite. "You're not comfortable working with aliens. I've come to accept that's just going to happen here."

"Hear me out, sir," Silva began, raising his hand slightly. "I didn't mean any disrespect to your team. I just felt that perhaps it would be better if they served in other capacities. They're a good bunch helping us out, but in the end they're still not human and that inevitably makes things a bit more difficult. Not in the way you think though."

Shepard thought this conversation sounded a bit familiar. The difference between now and then was that Ashley would eventually warm up to everyone, especially Tali. He doubted Silva would do the same. But, he supposed it was best to let the man speak for himself before he judged.

"Go on, Major." Shepard insisted politely.

"Well, you see, this is a human war in the end, it has been for close to three decades now," Silva began with a clear and steady tone. "We're fighting for the basic right to live here. That's a very personal thing. It affects every human. But for aliens, well, they probably wouldn't understand that as much. What I'm trying to say is, it's not really their fight, it's ours and we should clean up our own messes here. It's nice you want to help, but we should be able to stand on our own feet."

"I don't think turning away allies is the best way to assert your independence." Shepard told him. "I get that you don't think they understand the stakes or feel as personally attached to this conflict as you do. But I speak for all of them when I say all they care about is that people are dying and they want to stop that just as much as you do."

Silva just nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure they do, and I'm sure they're more than capable of the task ahead," Silva assured him graciously. "But let's be honest here sir, you're all here only by pure chance. This dimension, this ring, hell your team could leave anytime you want. You have a working starship."

"We don't intend to just cut and run when we get the chance either, Major." Shepard replied strongly. "We have our own reasons for keeping in this fight and they're just as personal as yours."

"I wasn't implying that, sir. "Silva once again assured him. "I know about that Reaper thing, it's been going around since we left Reach. My point is, you're a bit late to this party and this war has been going on for a long time and you haven't experienced it as much as we have."

Shepard crossed his arms as he continued to listen to Silva, growing a bit uncomfortable with what he was suggesting.

"You may come from a place where aliens and humans get along fine, but some of my own troopers were born the same year they attacked Harvest at the start of things," Silva continued steadily. "They've only know aliens are the enemy. It's probably best for everyone if we try to keep things in that frame mind, keep our forces a bit more separated, if you will. The fact you have your own mission to attend to is reason enough for that. I'm not saying we can't help each other. I'm just saying we're not exactly ready for this kind of alliance. If we're gonna win this war, it's gonna take humans lives, not humans and aliens."

"Well we'll agree to disagree on that, Major." Shepard told him. "Humanity is strong, especially in this universe. But you're under the UNSC banner, a government that's united you into a whole. Your strength comes from you working as a team, and the individuals who make up that team with all their differences combined. I believe in building bridges like that, between all species. We're stronger as a community in the end, Major. It doesn't matter what planet we call home, only that we work together towards a common goal."

Silva looked at Shepard for awhile before he smirked a bit.

"I can definitely see how you made your command, sir." He complimented. "I still don't think us handing missions over to your aliens is a good idea, but it's not my call it seems. At the very least, I suppose it's a good thing you're in charge of them, a real human being if you will. Could've been worse, you could've been a Spartan."

Shepard perched an eyebrow at Silva's statement. It came out of nowhere, just like at the briefing.

"You seem to have an issue with Spartans, Major," Shepard noted with a cautious glare. "More so than just the ordinary rivalry I hear you ODSTs have with them. Is this some kind of grudge?"

Silva laughed lightly at the suggestion.

"Please," he responded innocently. "I can't have a vendetta against a walking gun. That's all the Spartans are in the end, just guns that can talk now and then. Whatever humanity they had was beaten out of them when ONI snatched them up from their beds. No, my beef is with how the UNSC has gone about praising them, making them out to be legends and heroes. Let me tell you something, sir. A tank crew can be heroes, an admiral or general can be a legend, but a tank or a ship can't. It's just a piece of metal that does what you tell it to do. That's what Spartans are, tanks, not people. We shouldn't treat them like they are."

Shepard was a bit confused about Silva's statements. While what had happened to the Spartans had leaked out, specifics weren't entirely known. Not in that great detail. It suggested that the Major had become aware of the truth behind the Spartans at some point. It would explain some of his animosity.

"And how should we treat them?" Shepard asked, his voice sounding rather grated at the declaration.

"Like the failed bunch of sideshow freaks they are." Silva replied rather venomously. "They're practically extinct, Commander, and good riddance. That Master Chief you've been stuck with? He's no soldier, he's not even human. He's more like a robot than anything. Just because he has a few parts that are organic, doesn't mean he's a real person anymore. I'm kinda sorry that you have to rely on him to help you out. It's why I suggested ODSTs for the mission, we're still human and, like I said, that's what it's gonna take to win this war."

Shepard did his best to keep his face emotionless as possible. He didn't exactly like Silva's tone, nor did he like his dismissal of the Spartans. After working with Noble for so long and after all of the Chief's help earlier in the day, to say Shepard was in disagreement with Silva would be an understatement.

"Any particular reason you feel that way, Major?" Shepard asked. "From what I hear the Master Chief has pretty much earned his combat record."

"Because of technology and augmentation," Silva replied in a correcting tone. "I have nothing but respect for what he's been able to do... as a weapon. But that doesn't change who he is or what the Spartans are... or more accurately were. As for why I feel the way I do, well, that goes back to my stint as second lieutenant. Some dipshits in the Spartan program, the guys who made the Chief, they sent some of my men into the gymnasium. Their orders were to find a reason to get pissed off at, what was back then, a kid and teach him a lesson."

Not surprising to Shepard, everything he had heard about the Spartan program from Halsey, and from the Journal Tali had, suggested some pretty brutal training tactics. He had an idea, given the way Silva was speaking rather angrily about it, what had happened. The Major proved him right.

"The mission worked out perfectly, for the freak." Silva grumbled loudly. "He killed all of my guys, all of'em! Left them bleeding and dead on the ship gymnasium floor! Were there any repercussions? No! They patted him on the head and sent him off the showers. Did the freak even give a shit? No. Cause that's what he is, Commander, a robot. I don't know what you would call what happened in that gymnasium, sir, but I call it murder and the only reason the freak got away with it was because of that damn program."

"Or more likely self-defence," Shepard argued. "Receiving orders to beat up a fellow soldier sounds pretty illegal to me. Even if he was just a kid back then, he was still a commissioned member of the military. Your men could've refused."

"Does it matter?" Silva asked back rather angrily. "There wasn't even a hearing! They used my guys as fucking cannon fodder. Like the elites use their damn grunts!"

"I won't say you're wrong, Major," Shepard admitted calmly and astutely. "Your men and their families at the very least deserved some kind of compensation for what happened. They deserved better. But you shouldn't blame the Chief or the Spartans as a whole for it. If one of your guys had gotten jumped by a pack of Spartans, for whatever reason, would you fault him for fighting back?"

Silva didn't, or more likely couldn't, answer back. He just stood silent.

"I understand you don't feel as appreciated as you think you should be," Shepard told him sincerely. "For what it's worth, you taking this butte, setting up the defences, everything you've done here, you should be proud of it and you deserve praise for it. "

Silva seemed to brighten up a little at that, But Shepard wasn't done.

"But the fact is, letting the Chief and the other Spartans take part in these missions, it frees your guys up to do more," Shepard explained to him. "The same thing with my people, you should be grateful for the assistance, not angry because it looks like someone is taking your place. No one here denies what you've accomplished either, this isn't about that. Getting out of here is going to be a team effort and we all need to use every resource and person we have if we are going to survive. Try to remember that."

Silva sighed, and at that moment Shepard wondered if he had reached the Major. Eventually he looked back and responded.

"Well, just watch your back around him, Commander." Silva cautioned him. "Good luck on the mission."

Silva saluted quickly and left. Maybe he hadn't changed the Major's mind, but maybe he had just made things easier on Kat. As long as Silva thought about what he said, he probably wouldn't be as belligerent to her. Right now, Shepard needed to get back to finding the Master Chief. He himself had a few things on his mind as well thanks to Silva and he needed them sorted.

* * *

Arriving back aboard the _Truth and Reconcilliation_, Varvok had expected most of his troopers to be here. Instead he found only a few squads in stark contrast to what he had requested to be stationed aboard. He had initially thought they were simply delayed. Then one of his men informed him that was not the case. Enraged by the truth, Varvok stomped off to the Shipmaster. Lat 'Ravamee's quarters. He barged into the room as the automatic doors opened wide, furious indignation in his eyes. He found another Sangheili there with 'Ravamee, Orna 'Fulsamee. They were apparently going over some finer details about the defence plans, but Varvok didn't care at this point.

"You sent over half of my requested squads to some damn archaeology dig!" He shouted in anger.

"We lost contact with them. We needed to re-establish a link." Orna argued. "We felt your troops would be better used there."

"You have more than enough sangheili to do such a task!" Varvok shouted at him. "I need those men! Shepard will be here before too long! I told you we need to overwhelm him! Trap him inside an enclosed space!"

"We have more than enough forces already to do just that." Orna told him. "I doubt a few batarians will make much difference."

Varvok slammed his fists down on console that seperated him from the two sangheili and stared angrily at him.

"You have no idea who this human is!" He shouted. "None! I've been preparing these men to face him for a very long time! Ever since we found out he was still alive! Before then, I was training them to take on Spectres, just like him! Now, you're wasting valuable resources to deal with a radio problem!"

"That is how I saw fit to use them once they came aboard this ship." Ravamee replied calmly, with an undertone of viciousness. "As a warrior, you should be content to use what you have to accomplish your goal, not whining like a spoiled child who didn't get what they wanted."

"I'm going to tell the Supreme Commander about this outrage," Varvok growled back. "I'll see you taught a lesson for thinking you can order my men around! I'm in charge of them! Not you! Not the Covenant!"

But niehter Orna nor Lat were not deterred by the threat, they simply grinned broadly.

"Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee was the one who authorized my reassignment of your squads." Orna informed the batarian smugly. "I think you'll find no favour with him. As long as your Swords are affiliated with the Covenant, you will not presume to order us around. In your dimension, you have more clout given our reliance on you there. Here, on this ring, you are under our jurisdiction, our command and you will go where we tell you to. Be grateful we allowed as many of you to stay on to accomplish this holy task and that I saw fit to let you personally stay aboard rather than send you out on that... radio repair job as you called it."

Varvok, still angry but knowing now that he was out of his depth, pulled back from the console. Orna seemed pleased and turned away from him.

"Now get out, Lieutenant Commander," he ordered grimly. "We have far more important things to do than to deal with your unggoy-like bickering."

Varvok left, still fuming, still enraged by the actions of the Covenant, but he could say nothing. He had no choice but to leave. No choice but to accept Orna's authority and 'Vadamee's decision. The voices and warnings of Retz and Zek filled his head once more and his anger turned to a sense of shame.

He now wished he had some of that Ichor for himself.

* * *

The Chief's green box was the closest to the landing pad. He obviously picked out the spot to be ready to go at a moment's notice. You have to admire that kind of preparedness in a soldier, Shepard thought to himself. In the back of his mind, he wondered what the Spartan was doing. Part of him thought maybe he was getting a drink of water or a quick bit of sleep, but what Silva had said stuck with him a bit.

It wasn't that he thought the Major was right in calling the Spartans machines. It was just that, given what he knew of the Spartan program, it was hard to imagine them having much of a social life or private life. Did a Spartan II do anything besides think of war and fighting? Silva had a point, being stolen from your bed and trained to kill when you were fairly young, that had to affect you in some way. Kelly had suggested as much

He knocked on the side of the cube and waited for a reply before he went in.

"Enter," the gruff but calm voice of the Master Chief spoke.

Shepard entered and found the Spartan on his cot, filling up magazines for his assault rifle. He was still wearing his armour, helmet and all. When he saw Shepard had entered, he placed the magazine down and stood at attention.

"Commander," He greeted simply.

"At ease, Chief," he told him. "I'm just here to get a sense of where you're at before the mission goes down."

"I suppose that wouldn't hurt," Chief concluded. "There's nothing to really do now but wait for Tali'Zorah to get back with Cortana anyway."

Shepard leaned up against a nearby wall across from the Spartan. Chief sat back down and kept looking at the Commander.

"I know you stood up for us, but I hope you have no problem with me and my people tagging along on this," Shepard began in a familiar tone. "What with them being aliens and all. I'd like to ease those over if you do."

"I was trained initially to fight human insurrectionists," The Master Chief replied plainly. "It was only by chance I ended up fighting aliens. More importantly, hating the enemy was never really that important. It was more about stopping him. The fact most of your crew are aliens is irrelevant. They aren't the Covenant, that's what matters. They're friendly andthey're here to help. We need to do what we can to assist them and you in return."

Shepard just nodded at the simple practicality of the Spartan's reasoning. He supposed it fit the name his group was given.

"You take a lot of things in stride don't you?" Shepard asked rhetorically. "It's like you just deal with things as they occur. The _Autumn_ getting boarded, the lifeboat crash, rescuing the survivors, working with aliens. I mean, you just flipped to each task pretty much on the spot. Nothing gets to you, does it?"

"Compartmentalization was the first psychological element we had to learn." Chief told him flatly. "You couldn't let things get too personal or too close. You didn't survive long if you did. You needed to keep moving and you needed to keep thinking."

"But you were part of a team," Shepard reminded him. "Surely you couldn't block it all out."

Chief nodded at that.

"We leaned on each other for support, best we could." He explained. "Every Spartan, before and after the procedure, was under me. However, I had to accept early on that they all could, and probably would, die. That is the nature of war. All I could hope for was that if it came to that, it would be a life spent rather than sacrificed, that a soldier died to give us another chance to win."

Shepard knew how that felt, more times he cared to remember. Part of his squad on Elysium, Kaidan on Virmire, the soldiers and people they couldn't save back on Reach. It all weighed pretty heavy on him and he had to compartmentalize it all as well.

"I'm guessing you already know a lot about the Spartan Program," Chief spoke up suddenly. "Considering your team once worked with Jorge and, from what I understand, you did know Doctor Halsey."

"She was the one that put us on course to finding the _Autumn_," Shepard admitted, not wanting to fully share the details. "Is that why you're being so open?"

"It's not much of a military secret anymore, Commander." Chief responded. "Hiding it now is redundant. Besides, your existence in the UNSC is almost as big a secret as well and almost as well kept at this point."

Shepard gave a laugh at that, it was true that they hadn't kept much of a low profile.

"Can you remember anything before you were inducted?" Shepard asked him with a slight hint of consideration as he spoke.

"Pieces," Chief replied plainly. "I have dreams at times in cryo-sleep. They're flashes of memories and a few blurry faces, but nothing really clear. In the end it doesn't matter, that life is gone and I barely remember enough of it to miss it."

"Well you made the most of it all at least." Shepard complimented. "You've done a lot of good from what I hear, you and your fellow Spartans."

Chief nodded and went to pick up his magazine to continue filling it.

"That's good of you to say, sir," He replied graciously. "I wish the others were here to hear it from you. They never got nearly as many compliments as they deserved; especially honest ones. Frankly, I'm surprised you don't have a problem working with a Spartan, given everything you must know."

"I'll admit I had reservations, but never with the Spartans personally." Shepard clarified for him. "I may have never been forced into the military like you, but I know what it's like to be labelled a 'super-human' if you will."

Chief looked up from his work and watched Shepard close his hand into a biotic fist.

"Kids in school were kinda suspicious of it at first, called me the Glowy Freak and Bluey Voodoo." He explained. "I got in trouble a few times for lashing back at them."

"For name calling?" Chief asked in interest.

"Nah, it was never anything that petty." Shepard clarified as he lowered his arm. "I didn't think it was worth fighting someone over a stupid name. Most of the time it was against the school yard bullies, a few dipshit older kids who didn't like the sudden influx of a few alien transfers. It was back when we were just integrating into the wider galactic community and already a few people in the Alliance military were shacking up with aliens, specifically Asari. They can have-"

"Children with any race through a genetic link through the nervous systems of both recipients," Chief suddenly interrupted. "Cortana gave me that Codex of yours to study on my way over."

So he wasn't just a blunt instrument like Silva suggested. Shepard took a bit of solace in that.

"Yeah, pretty much," he replied with a nod. "Anyway, kids made fun of asari kids that were going to the same schools on the stations I was, along with other kids with biotic gifts that were just emerging. Suffice to say, I made a deal about getting back at them. It landed me in the office one too many times, mainly because I didn't know my own strength."

"It happens," Chief concurred plainly.

"The point is I never cared much about someone's origins. If I did, I might as well have been calling myself names and punching myself for being a freak," Shepard explained as he pushed himself off the wall. "All I care about is getting as many people off this ring as we can."

"Agreed," Chief replied immediately.

Shepard watched him for a few more seconds, as he continued to fill his magazine with bullets. He was hesitant about asking his next question, mainly because it sounded like something personal.

"But I guess not everyone thinks like that," Shepard started again. "I get the impression Silva doesn't want you around."

"ODSTs rarely do, it doesn't affect anything." Chief assured him. "I'm completely focused on getting your crew and the Captain back, any Spartan worth his salt would feel the same."

"I'm sure you are, but this can't be anything new for you," Shepard said to him cautiously, not wanting to tread on a nerve. "Were the ODSTs hard on you in training?"

Chief looked up from his work and placed the magazine aside again.

"They needed someone to break us in. The ODSTs were the best choice." He explained. "They saw themselves as training their own replacements, even back then. They were more than eager to take every opportunity they had to rough us up or worse. My guess is they wanted us to see them as an enemy to overcome. And we did, time and time again."

"I bet you kinda enjoyed the payback though, huh?" Shepard asked.

"In a sense I enjoyed returning the favour for all the times they cracked the whip on my team," Chief admitted, sounding a bit ashamed. "I got over it though. I was still just a kid back then. Once you get older, it stops being so personal and just becomes a matter of life. When someone tries to attack you, hurt you, kill you, it's natural to rise up and strike back. Personal issues don't play into it anymore. You do what you have to. Killing or fighting isn't something you're supposed to enjoy, but you do it if it means the safety of yourself and others."

Shepard nodded in agreement. Tali was right, he did have a lot in common with him. Those words pretty much cemented what he felt earlier in the day, that he could trust this Spartan.

"You're a lot more talkative than when you were on mission," Shepard informed him with a smirk.

"It's nothing personal. I'm not used to much chit chat in a firefight, even among other Spartans." He explained. "If it doesn't relate to the task at hand we usually just refrain for speaking much. That and I'm more used to talking with other Spartans in general."

"You're talking with me now and I'm not a Spartan." Shepard informed him.

"That's because I've had to admit to myself that there are only three other Spartans around and only one I know personally," The Chief replied cleanly. "And since I have a feeling we're going to be stuck together, I'm going to have to get used to speaking to others a lot more."

It was a practical and somewhat sad way of looking at things. Shepard had hoped he could avoid the fact most of the Spartan IIs were probably dead now. It seemed that Chief wasn't able to avoid the subject himself. Again, Shepard had been there.

There was a brief silence between the two that was interrupted by another knock on the cube's door. Chief ushered the person in. It was Tali, omni-tool activated. She stepped back a bit when she spotted her Commander.

"Shepard, I didn't think you'd be here," She said rather surprised.

"I was just going over some things with the Master Chief before we headed out." He explained to her.

"Well I hope you're both ready," Tali informed them. "The sun is almost down and they're fuelling up the Pelicans outside."

Tali's omni-tool chimed once and she brought it up to her face. Cortana appeared, standing tall and formal.

"Holland just called for the Troopers and Marines that will be taking part in the mission." She updated them. "They're already gearing up and marshalling on the ready line as we speak."

"Then that's our cue." Chief said as he stood up from his cot.

The Spartan grabbed his assault rifle off the rack on the wall and slammed his magazine into the gun. Tali pulled Cortana's chip from her omni-tool and handed it back to him. He placed her in the back of his helmet and cocked the rifle.

"Well then," said Cortana's voice from the helmet's external speakers. "Let's pay the _Truth and Reconciliation_ a visit then, shall we?"

* * *

AN: Quite a chapter for today, huh? At least we're back with the A-plot. I wanted to do some proper world and character building in this chapter, as well as hint to some larger things down the road. I wasn't able to do everything I wanted here. I was forced more or less to move scenes to the next chapter in order to keep the story flowing. At least it kept this chapter short... or short for me anyway.

The next two chapters will involve the third mission in the original Halo game as well as the raid on the _Autumn_ from the novelisation. It's quite a bit to cover. I'm hoping it won't take all summer to get both chapters out. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be able to get at least one of the next chapters done before the month is out. But, I can't exactly promise that as life tends to get in the way. Rest assured I'll be working on it whenever I can.

Please review and do remember to stop off and edit the TVTropes page, you can find the link on the profile page. I always enjoy reading both. Till next time.


	12. Reconciling

Chapter 11: Reconciling

**September 19****th****, 2552: **

**Seven minutes after Sunset.**

Tali asked Kat to wiggle the arm's fingers a little. The synthetic motors fluctuated and moved together as the torch cut away at potential trouble spots. Before long, Kat's fingers were responding twice as fast. She closed her robotic hand into a fist. With the maintenance a success, Tali closed up the arm.

"Wish there was time to see how fast I'm on the draw now with this arm," Kat voiced as Tali finished up.

"Cortana took a bit longer than I thought, sorry," the quarian apologised humbly. "But it should be at least twenty percent improved. Just try not burn through too much ammo out there, okay? We're gonna need to make shots count eventually."

"You just worry about getting Keyes and your own people off that ship," Kat responded. "I'm sure it's alright anyway. This experience has taught me that you quarians know your cybernetics. Hell, you could probably teach the UNSC a few things."

Tali nervously chuckled at that.

"To be honest, most of the designs were improved upon by the geth." She elaborated. "In fact, many of my additions to the arm were ideas I got from studying geth parts from new models."

"Either way, if it keeps me in the fight, I'm glad to have someone with a bit of expertise aboard," the Spartan III responded back. "Thanks again and watch your back out there."

"You too, Kat, and I mean that especially in regards to the Major," Tali warned grimly.

Kat just nodded and placed her helmet on her head. She looked over Tali's shoulder to see Commander Shepard coming up from behind her.

"Bring'em home, sir," Kat called out as she waved both him and Tali off.

"That's the plan!" Shepard replied as she ran to her own Pelican.

Kat boarded her dropship and Tali followed Shepard back to theirs. The Master Chief was already waiting there with the rest of the rescue team.

"Thane just reported in," Shepard began as they approached the Pelican. "Most of the ways in are heavily guarded, but he's seen a weak spot along the plateau's edge. Biggest problem is some scattered turrets, but even though it's supposedly the best way in that doesn't make it easy. There are a lot of elites in the area from what he's seen. He should contact us when we hit the ground with further intel."

"I hope he's staying out of sight." Tali casually added.

"You know Thane," Shepard assured her. "He's a professional about these things. Plus lives are on the line, he won't hit them unless we tell him to."

That was good to hear. Thane had been pretty reckless on Reach early on. It was nice to see he was back to his old self. Tali reasoned it was most certainly due to the fact the lives of Joker and Jack were in play. If he went off the handle, they could die. Knowing Thane as she did, he couldn't live with himself, no matter how short that time actually was, with that on his conscience.

"I'm gonna approach along the plateau walls," Foehammer spoke aloud through their radios. "It should mask us from them sensors a bit. We can't all have nifty stealth drives."

"That'll be fine, Echo 419," Cortana assured her. "Once we're on the ground your job is done until we secure our entry."

"Let's just hope the prisoners have been able to hold out," Chief said as they all climbed into the Pelican.

Tali just laughed under her breath.

"Trust me," she began with a brash tone. "With Jack on board, the only reason that ship isn't crashing is because they're smart enough to keep her in her cell. She's fine, it is Joker I'm more worried about... especially if he's in the same room as her."

It sounded like a joke, but in truth it wasn't. She really was concerned about Joker being stuck with Jack for this long. She wasn't good in enclosed spaces and she tended to wreak a lot of collateral damage. Ancestors willing, he was keeping his head down in there.

* * *

She had been shoulder checking, punching and slamming the barrier for hours now. She had long since stopped trying to get the collar off. From the sound of her previous attempts, the shocks had become increasingly painful whenever she touched the thing. Apparently, her new plan was to just keep pounding away with what little biotic power she could muster in the slim hope that just maybe the barrier would give out from all the abuse.

Joker had no such delusions. He doubted Jack fully believed in her plan either, but she needed something to hit. All the barrier did was crackle and spark a bit. If it was the wall she had been hitting, her hands would be bloody and broken by now. The only other thing to hit in here was him and, well, Joker was just happy she wasn't. He hadn't said anything out of fear that she'd in fact turn her attention to him. He hoped she would calm down before too long, but she had kept it up longer than he thought she would.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of listening to swears, groans and random bursts of rage induced incomprehensible gibberish, Jack finally stopped. She let her arms drop to her side and then plunked herself down in her own corner diagonally opposite to Joker's. After about half a minute of listening to her heavy breathing, Joker finally got the nerve to speak up.

"So... did you get it all out of your system then?" He asked her as politely as possible.

"Shut it, wiseass," She grumbled at him.

"Friendly as ever," Joker replied back in his usual acerbic tone. "Good to see that being back in prison hasn't changed your wonderful personality."

Jack's frown deepened upon Joker's words. She balled her fists and looked at him with a scowl.

"I said shut it," she ordered him. "I don't need to hear your shitty stand-up routine you try to smooth talk everyone with."

"This is just conversation, Jack," Joker told her, still in his mocking tone of voice. "If you actually talked to people you would know that. You make little jokes, you lighten the mood, you converse a bit, you socialise. It is the one thing that's consistently normal about most of the crew."

"Yeah, whatever," Jack grimaced at him. "You wanna talk? Talk with yourself. You love your own voice so much already. Just leave me out of it."

Jack looked away and the cell fell silent once again. It stayed that way for only a minute, however, as Joker took Jack up on her advice and began talking again, this time with someone he knew wanted to listen.

"Hey Joker, how are you doing?" He asked himself. "Oh I'm fine, I guess. I'm a prisoner and everything, but I got my own corner, kinda comfy actually. I'm getting a bit sick of looking at purple though. It is kind of a drab colour. Tali manages to make it work though. Oh yeah, she does, but this shade is so dull looking. Way too bland, in my opinion."

Jack groaned slightly at the pilot's decision to take her advice literally.

"You got any other problems, Jeff?" Joker asked himself once more. "Yeah, my cell mate is kind of a loner. She doesn't enjoy my company despite my wonderful qualities. It's kinda depressing really. Now my only choice is to talk to you."

Jack grumbled a bit under her breath as her brow furrowed. Joker continued talking to himself.

"What? You have a problem talking with me?" Joker suddenly asked himself, sounding a bit dejected. "It's nothing personal. You're just kind of a blabber mouth, that's all. Really, it's not that I don't enjoy your company me, but sometimes I need to get out a bit. And I would talk to my cellmate, but she's not in the best position now."

Jack's eye twitched in annoyance as she cupped her hands over her ears, trying to block Joker out. It was futile though.

"What's her problem then?" Joker asked himself. "Well I think she has issues with prisons, she destroyed the last one she was in. So she's kinda going through a rough time now. Maybe she just needs her space. So I figure I'm just gonna give her it, and when she wants to talk she'll talk. I mean, it's alright to be scared of confined places especially since-"

"I am not scared!" Jack shouted at him furiously. "And damn it, don't you ever shut up!"

Joker feigned offense at the remark.

"Excuse me, I'm having a private conversation with myself here," he told her while pretending to be annoyed. "Now if you want to join in you'll have to be a tad less rude there."

Jack put her head back and roared in frustration. Joker wondered, for a brief moment, if he was really that infuriating. He eventually admitted he probably was, but that didn't mean he didn't have good intentions. He was just trying to get her mind off their predicament.

"Look," he began again in a more serious tone. "I'm just trying to help you out here a bit. You've been trapped in jail and everything with a ton of assholes and I'm just trying to make your stay a little less grim this time around."

"I am not scared," Jack reiterated angrily. "I'm pissed off that we're in here. That's it. Personally, I'm surprised you haven't been trying to get the fuck out of here like I have. You've been here longer."

Joker chuckled at the idea.

"Yeah, that's smart," he said sarcastically. "The brittle bones guy busts out of his cell, takes on who knows how many eight-foot aliens with plasma guns, fighting through a ship he's unfamiliar with, so he can get to an escape ship he probably won't be able to figure out how to fly. And I'm gonna manage all that, without even a gun. I'll get right on that."

Jack looked away for a second, probably realising Joker's point. She still turned back with another suggestion.

"Well you could help me break this collar off so I can bust us out of here," she stated flatly.

"Uh, tech isn't my territory. That would be Tali or Legion you're looking for," He replied back with an incredulous look. "If you're really lucky you'll get EDI, but all you got is me. Trust me here; you don't want me anywhere near that collar."

Jack sighed, her irritation palpable at this point. She placed her head onto her knees and placed her hands over her head.

"Well what then?" she demanded to know. "We just lie down and die? I don't do that shit."

"No, we just wait for Shepard," Joker replied innocently enough. "He'll show up with the crew, drop the cell doors and we'll practically just walk right out of here along with him. He's probably on his way here to save us now."

Jack huffed at him.

"To save you, you mean," she declared. "You're the pilot. He has to come for you. He probably thinks I'm dead. He'll probably come, but I'll just be the damn door prize compared to getting you back."

Joker looked at her in utter disbelief. How could she say something like that? Joker thought at this point she knew the Commander better than that.

"Oh come on, Jack," he said to her, laughing at the very notion of Shepard not caring about finding her alive. "The Commander cares just as much about you as he does me. He's coming for both of us and not just because we're important to the crew. I mean, yeah, you're always angry half the time, you barely spend time with us and you're pretty nasty when you do, but you're still his friend."

"Please," Jack snuffed at him. "I have no friends."

"Oh that's not true and you know it," Joker replied with a little smile. "I mean, you and Miranda are getting along better."

"That's me tolerating her genetically perfect ass," Jack argued in return. "I'm not her friend, I just know I can work with her and not feel sick about it."

Joker shook his head at it all, not believing a single word.

"You can't possibly think that after everything we've been through," he informed her. "I mean, we've put everything on the line for each other. We've been through a suicide mission, the death of a planet, countless firefights..."

"So I can trust you all to have my back, great, I'll put the tea on," she grumbled at him return. "That doesn't mean we're friends. Hell, I should technically hate you all for the shit I've been put through lately. I save all of humanity from stupid bug people and I'm rewarded with being stuck in a universe where it's getting plasma beamed to death by other fucking aliens. That's karma for ya, a fucking lie."

"You're not seriously blaming the Commander for that are you?" Joker asked with a doubtful look.

Jack exhaled loudly, it was a sigh so much as a release of pent of aggression.

"Fine, I don't hate you for that. Not your fault." She admitted growling. "But I'm serious about not having friends. Friends complicate shit. Even if you trust them, you can't really depend on them. Not forever. I mean, let's say we do get home? What you think is gonna happen? We just fly up the Alliance and we all go home with big fucking ass grins on our faces and medals on our chests?"

"Well, maybe not yours, since you're only wearing that Marine armour because someone forced you too I bet." Joker chuckled.

Jack held in her expected groan and continued.

"We're gonna have to split up, Joker," she told him with a sneer. "The quarian has her fleet and the Justicar is gonna have to get back to fucking up bad guys elsewhere lest her code decides we all need to die. The geezer is gonna find another contract, the Krogan is eventually gonna go back to Tuchanka, Lizard Lips is an assassin with probably a big ass target on his head from some sort of law agency out there. None of us can stay. So why make friends with each other if that's how this all goes down in the end?"

Joker wasn't blind to the truth Jack was telling him. He knew that was likely to happen. Even with all the good they had done, there were going to be a lot of questions when they eventually went back to the Alliance. The others had obligations of their own and they couldn't stay forever. He was fine with that. That was how life worked. You couldn't always expect those close to you to remain around you twenty four seven. He had long accepted that they'd be separated, but he knew one way or another they'd all come back together somehow.

With Jack, however, that was apparently a harder truth to accept and handle.

"Is that why you hang out in your little space under the engine room?" He asked her. "You're afraid of getting close."

"I'm not afraid of anything," Jack insisted once more. "I just don't want a bunch of people acting like we're all the best buddies in the entire world when we're all planning to just move on in the end. I'm realistic."

Yeah, that was pretty much a "yes" as far as Joker was concerned.

"If you really think all that, why did you stay on after the Collector Base?" Joker enquired. "You could've left at any time, any planet and any system."

"Like I got some better place to be?" She asked back.

Joker just sighed, he wasn't gonna get her to open up. It would take someone with a lot more patience than he had. But he still had something to say.

"I get you may not want to care about us," he told her unassumingly. "But don't think we don't care about you. Shepard would go to hell and back for any of us. You don't always have to be in that bubble you've made for yourself. People care, Jack. I just want you to know that."

At the very least, Jack seemed to have calmed down a bit. Who knows, maybe he got her to think about things a little. Either way, once Shepard showed up, she'd realise he was telling the truth. Joker just hoped it was soon, he really was getting sick of this shade of purple.

* * *

Kowalski checked his magazine one more time before popping it back in his gun and cocking the pin back. He had double checked and triple checked all of his equipment in a similar fashion. The Covenant had caught them all off guard last time. He wanted to be ready for them this go around. He wondered if this was the same kind of paranoia that fuelled Agley's own equipment checks. Then again, he wasn't packing several magazines more than the usual regulated amount like the more jumpy Private was. Kowalski just wanted to be ready, Agley wanted to overcompensate.

Ellingham passed Agley with a glower, looking on almost in disbelief at how much he was carrying. Doubling back, Ellingham began pulling off the extra pounds of grenades, magazines, guns and the spare flak jacket Agley had piled onto himself.

"Are you in basic again, Ags?" He asked somewhat annoyed. "We're rationing everything, remember? Even if we weren't, you take all this shit into combat. You're gonna fall over flat on your face."

"I'm not running out of ammo out there." Agley tried to argue.

"You won't, not as long as you pick your shots," Ellingham assured him. "Seriously, did you forget everything from basic when that bug pulled you into the rafters back on Reach? How many times did he break your skull against the wall again?"

Ellingham pulled off a battle rifle and an extra pistol that Agley was carrying alongside his other two weapons, a shotgun and a DMR.

"You do not need an extra gun either," Ellingham added. "Stick to your Primary, your Secondary and your sidearm. Honestly, it's like I'm back in kindergarten here."

"My nerves are shot, okay. I haven't slept since this morning. Is that what you want?" Agley asked pleadingly. "I didn't know what to take, I was in a rush when they called, so I just grabbed what I could carry. I wasn't gonna take everything, honest!"

"You're lucky I caught you making a fool of yourself," Ellingham told him, as he pulled off the flak jacket at last. "If Sergeant Taylor saw half this crap on you he'd flip. Just remember your training and don't pretend you're some kind of commando. You're a Marine. Start acting like one again."

Ellingham pushed his hand into Agley's chest. The private looked down shamefully as Ellingham brought all the equipment back to a storage space. He joined Kowalski soon after.

"You were a little hard on him, don't you think?" Kowalski asked him.

"I'm sick of him crying constantly," Ellingham replied back, still fuming. "We've all had it rough. Even Ramirez, the rookie, is handling his shit better. I don't care if he was carrying all that just because he didn't know what to take with him. He's dragging what's left of this unit down."

"He's scared, dude," Kowalski tried to explain. "That stuff with the drones really screwed him up somehow. I don't know why, but it did. I agree that he needs to get it together, but he's still part of the team and he still volunteered for this along with the rest of the squad. He's got our backs."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Ellingham responded, sounding rather scornful.

To Kowalski's relief, Sergeant Taylor showed up at that very second alongside Corporal Pearson. That put an end to the conversation that was steadily growing uncomfortable. Agley straightened up himself, keeping his DMR out and ready. Ramirez soon found his own way over to the group as well, holding a standard assault rifle.

"You have an idea where we're going, Sarge?" Kowalski asked Taylor, hoping to put the Agley situation further behind him.

"Nothing yet," he admitted, still wearing a slight smile on his face. "But I was given one of these."

Taylor held out his arm and, right before their eyes, it was encircled by an orange holographic device. It instantly earned the mandatory 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the rest of the squad.

"One of them omni-tools the Normandy guys wear on themselves," Ramirez voiced aloud in astonishment. "Is it true it's got a knife in there?"

Taylor showed rather than told, hitting a command that popped out an orange blade for all to see.

"Hell yeah," Ellingham grinned broadly. "We're getting some badass gear now."

"All the squad leaders within ODSTs, Marines, Army, they're all getting these," Taylor explained "I think they're trying to use them to better coordinate the teams, faster flow of information and all that. Plus it's got some kickass functions. This one has overload, burns through shields. It's what gives the Normandy team their edge."

"That ain't all we got either," added Pearson proudly as he reached for his back. "Check this beauty out."

Pearson pulled out a gun that looked like a bullpup style battle rifle, but not of any design Kowalski could recognize. Putting together the piece quickly, however, he figured it out.

"I saw the scary old guy from the Normandy use that thing," He pointed out.

"Yeah, it's called a Mattock," said Pearson. "Semi-Automatic, but damn accurate and packs a punch. Plus, a devastator rounds ammo augmentation mod was added in. One switch flip and this baby will eat elite shields for dinner. Kind of like that funny looking pistol you've been carrying around, Kowalski."

Kowalski looked down to his side arm, he had forgotten he was still using that Carnifex he had been given back on Reach. He had just come to accept it as another pistol, another gun in his arsenal.

"I take it if they're giving us the inter-dimensional stuff we're going someplace that's bad," Ellingham suggested.

Taylor was looking behind Ellingham as he spoke, noticing something he didn't.

"You may get your answer," He said. "Look at who is up in front."

Kowalski turned to see an ODST Major stepping up onto a series of boxes. Near him was a Spartan in light blue armour and Garrus Vakarian. They weren't climbing up on the crates like the Major, but they took positions beside him.

"Who's that?" Ramirez asked aloud.

Kowalski was grateful for the rookie's question, he didn't want to look ignorant or anything.

"Major Antonio Silva," Taylor answered. "He runs the ODST battalion detachment that was stationed on the _Autumn._ They put him in charge despite the fact he isn't a Colonel yet. He took this place with just his own group of troopers. Makes sense he's being put in charge of this operation."

"So why's he with a Spartan?" Pearson asked. "Last time I checked Drop Troops and Super-Soldiers didn't mix."

"Well, Colonel Holland is in charge," Taylor reasoned. "I guess he's more comfortable with a Spartan coming along."

Silva whistled hard, sticking two fingers into his mouth and blowing. Every Trooper and Marine suddenly stood at attention as he addressed them all.

"For those who don't know me, I am Major Antonio Silva of the ODSTs," he began. "These two beside me are Garrus Vakarian of the Normandy and Spartan B-320. You may call her Lieutenant Commander or Noble 2. And tonight, we're all going to become best friends, or die trying."

'_That_ _was a rather grim way of saying things,_' Kowalski thought.

"As you all know," the Major continued. "We were forced to vacate the _Autumn_ in quite a hurry. Since then, the Covenant has moved in to the hulking wreck. They can have the pile of junk as far as I'm concerned. However, we still need to get some of our stuff out of there. So, we're going to politely march in and take it back."

Kowalski should've known this raid was about supply recovery. With so many soldiers here, they'd need the extra supplies, especially if they intended to hold out for any extended period of time. At least he knew what to expect now. Maybe they'd be able to make off with a tank. That would be nice.

"Now, the Covenant are most certainly going to have a defence set up now. So we are going to split our attack into two forces," Silva continued to explain. "I will lead Team One, comprised of the bulk of my ODST squadrons. We will draw enemy fire in one direction. When they are sufficiently distracted, Team Two, headed by the Lieutenant Commander, will attack from the opposite side, flanking them. Once we have a perimeter secured, we will head inside the ship, grab what we can and extract our asses back home."

A simple enough plan, but Kowalski wondered how long it would last. After all, Silva didn't seem to know what kind of defences they were facing.

"We're going to be uploading mission specs to your squadron Commanders constantly," Silva assured them all. "First and foremost will be the inventory manifesto. The items on this list are things to look out for, vehicles, med-supplies, weapons, ammo, food stores, the works. Keep your Commanders informed of what you find so they can inform us. The omni-tools will keep us all in constant contact with one another. It should help coordinate our efforts in extracting as much as we can before we're forced to pull out. Review it quickly and get to your Pelicans."

Everyone looked over their copy of the manifesto which had just been sent to their squad leaders' omni-tools. Kowalski's squad gathered around Sergeant Taylor to see what they were going to be looking for. Most of it was either tanks, warthogs and ammo, but the top priority was rations. They weren't going to last long without food after all.

"Think there will be time to pick up personal affects?" Pearson asked. "We kinda left in a hurry and I didn't empty out my footlocker. My driving shades were in there."

"Assuming it even survived the crash, I doubt we'll have the time," Taylor informed him. "Let's worry about how we're going to get most of this stuff home and where we'll find it. Covenant could've moved most of it to make way for their own supplies."

"Man, are they gonna be surprised when we show up there," laughed Ellingham. "They probably aren't suspecting us to go on the offensive so early."

If nothing else, Silva's confidence in the plan and Vakarian tagging along with that Spartan gave Kowalski some much needed confidence. However, he was concerned about them being all on the same page. ODSTs and Spartans didn't work together all that well, he'd seen it on Reach. Maybe Garrus had won enough respect with them now, but he couldn't be sure.

The thought made him think back to Agley and Ellingham's argument from earlier. He looked to Agley, who was listening to things intently. Regardless, Kowalski could see Ellingham giving him the eye now and then. To be fair to Ellingham, everyone had already voiced their own displeasure with Agley once before, even Kowalski. He just hoped that, when push came to shove, Agley would prove he was still a Marine.

* * *

The Pelican touched down on the edge of the plateau and everyone quickly piled out. The Normandy's shuttle landed a few feet away, letting off more of the rescue team. Thanks to some quick recon, they had both managed to find a blind spot in the Covenant's ship's sensors as well as disguise their IFF signals as other Covenant dropships. It was the only way they could've gotten here without getting shot down.

Staff Sergeant Parker shouted out to his Marines as they set foot onto the ground.

"Hit it Marines," he ordered. "The Corps ain't paying us by the hour!"

Shepard exited with Tali and Kasumi right behind him. At the same time, Miranda, Mordin and Legion exited the shuttle and rushed over to them as the Pelican took off.

"Jacob radioed before on our way in," Miranda said to Shepard. "The Pelicans are on their way to the _Autumn's_ crash site now. I've informed EDI to keep the Normandy close-by in stealth mode, just in case we need her."

"Good," Shepard said with a nod. "If we're walking into a trap we might need the extra firepower. Plus a way to quickly extract everyone if things get bad."

As they kept moving up they saw one Marine staring up at their target. The _Truth and Reconciliation_ hovered high above, blocking out the star-lit sky and part of the massive gas giant the ring orbited. It certainly made their task seem all the more daunting.

"I'm starting to wish the Corps **did **issue me wings instead of a rifle." He said to himself aloud.

Shepard lightly tapped him on the shoulder as he walked past him.

"Hey, don't worry," he assured him. "I've faced bigger, way bigger. We'll be fine."

The rest of the Marines rushed up to their ready positions in the rocks, prepared to move in on command. Meanwhile, Shepard and his team assembled alongside the Master Chief and Spartan-058. They had gotten into Covenant territory without anyone spotting them, but that didn't change the fact that the enemy expected them. Cortana confirmed their suspicions.

"I'm detecting Covenant stationary guns in the next pass," she informed everyone. "Not a precise count on troop number, but there's definitely at least two squads worth of them, if the motion tracker is accurate."

"Which means an Elite for each," Linda added with a slight grumble. She looked to Shepard and asked, "Do we have eyes on them?"

Shepard quickly contacted said 'Eyes.'

"Thane, we're here, are you near our position?" He requested.

"I've been here for hours," Thane assured him. "They've set up two sets of guns, each cover the other. One of them is facing directly on your entrance route."

"Do you have a visual on their operators?" Shepard asked.

"I have better shot on the gun to the far end," Thane informed him. "The one facing you is a bit trickier."

Shepard nodded and looked to Chief.

"Our best bet would be to take out both guns simultaneously," he suggested. "We keep them out of action and they won't be killing any Marines when the shooting starts."

"That leaves the elites," Tali warned. "What do we do about them?"

"Leave them to me," Linda spoke up. "I'll take them out before they realise what's happened."

"Do we have a good place to set up a Sniper's perch from here?" Shepard asked.

Cortana quickly piped up with the answer.

"There is high ground to the right of the entrance to the pass," she notified him. "We can use the foliage and rocks up there as cover and pick off the gun operators."

A good plan, but they'd still need to get through what was left of the Covenant once the elites and guns were down. That would be the Marines' job. Shepard decided to give them a little extra help.

"Miranda, Mordin, you two hang back with the Marines until they move in," Shepard ordered them. "Legion will go with me and provide additional fire support. Tali, when you hear the shooting start, send in Chiktikka. Don't let her open fire unless she has to. We need her in position to flank them."

The squad nodded in acknowledgement and that seemed to be good enough for Cortana.

"Let's do this quick and clean then," she said. "I'll inform the Sergeant to hold back until the Covenant return fire. That should give us enough time to thin the ranks for them."

"Let's move then," Shepard agreed.

The team moved into their positions. Cortana informed Parker to stay put for the moment while everyone else got set up on the high ground. Below them, they could see more rocks and boulders blocking their field of vision. The guns were the only two things out in the open, raised up on their own high ground. Within the pass itself the elites patrolled, jackals at their sides while many of the grunts were either standing nearby the guns or sleeping against rocks.

"For every grunt awake there is always five more asleep just before an engagement," Cortana noted aloud. "I'm serious about that, I've done the math."

"They're not our problem," Chief reminded her. "I got a lock on one of the gunners. He's near the first gun facing the entranceway."

"I'm a bit more concerned about the back end of the area facing the cliff edge," Linda pointed out.

Shepard looked over to where she was pointing. It was past the second gun at the back of the pass. The cliff edge was a narrow strip of rock that led to the next pass. He could already tell what her concern was.

"If there's anyone nearby they're gonna rush in to protect their friends the second they hear gunfire," he reasoned. "Thane, keep that area covered and let us know if you see anyone moving up through there."

"On it, Shepard," Thane promised.

"Legion, you have the second gun," Shepard informed the AI. "If you have the shot, take it."

"Acknowledged, Shepard-Commander," replied Legion.

Chief had already lined up his shot on the first gunner's head, a grunt in red armour. At the moment the little alien was scratching his rear end, casually unaware of anything wrong. He didn't want to take the shot just yet, however.

"Linda, do you have the solution on one of the elites?" He asked.

"I have it," she said confidently to him.

"Alright," Chief said exhaling. "Everyone fire on my mark."

Chief levelled the crosshair over the grunt gunner's left eye and pressed his finger against the trigger just lightly enough to feel it begin to resist.

"Mark."

Chief pulled back the trigger the rest of the way. The rifle shot resounded throughout the pass as the bullet sliced through the air. The high velocity round punctured the grunt's eye socket. After a brief second where he remained standing, the alien collapsed face first into the dirt.

The second gunner at the far end of the pass met a similar fate. He was flung back into the bushes as Legion's round cut into the center of his forehead. The elite nearby looked back for a brief second, but would never get to fully process what happened. Linda's round easily punctured through the elite's shield and exited out the front of the alien's head. The bullet even caused the elite's blue helmet to go flying off as well. The way the bullet had entered his skull forced him to fall forwards, his body twisting as the bullet's exit from his forehead forced his head to return to its proper facing position.

Before the elite's body was even cold, Tali sent Chiktikka into the pass. The little drone quickly sped into the rocks, hiding from the Covenant still patrolling the area. Kasumi joined the drone, activating her cloak and sneaking into the enemy lines. Shepard watched it all unfold with cautious optimism.

Despite the noise the rifles made, the Covenant were still trying to assess what had just happened. Many of the grunts were heavy sleepers, apparently so deep in their dreams that the noise didn't faze them. The lone elite left, two jackals by his side as he patrolled, looked back briefly to see what had happened. His dead comrade was hidden in the grass behind a large rock that blocked his view and the dead grunt gunner was obscured by the hedges. However, he was still dangerously close to the first gunner that Chief had killed.

As he approached the body, with two of the jackals by his side, Linda zeroed in on him. She put her crosshairs over the alien. His red armour meant he had stronger shields, but they wouldn't last long against precise sniper fire. She aimed at center mass, although there was a jackal blocking her view a bit. She decided it didn't matter. The bird's skull would hardly be an obstacle. The second jackal would escape unscathed of course, but at least the leadership for the remaining Covenant would be decapitated.

Linda let the bullet fly and it sped across the open terrain. It slashed deep into the jackal's skull, exiting cleanly out one end before puncturing the side of the elite. The shields died instantly and the jackal collapsed into a heap. The elite looked down to see a terrible wound in his side. By the time he saw the gushing blood, however, it was too late. Linda fired another shot a half second after her first. It sliced into the elite's neck, puncturing a critical artery and guaranteeing his death.

It also guaranteed that the second jackal would realise where the shots were coming from. She turned to the high ground and cried out a high pitched screech. He opened fire on the high ground above as he raised his shield to protect himself. Linda ducked back into cover as the plasma fire came hurtling towards their position.

The remaining grunts and jackals suddenly found themselves under fire. They focused all they had on the high ground, leaving their rears exposed. It was the perfect opportunity for Chiktikka to make her move. Tali sent the drone into the fray proper now, manoeuvring her through the rocks towards one of the Covenant. The grunt took a full energy blast to the back, seized up and collapsed onto his side.

Chiktikka's attack caught the attention of the Covenant nearby. Jackals moved to block the drone's way, their shields absorbing Chiktikka's energy blasts. The brief reprieve allowed everyone on the high ground the chance to return fire on the enemy. It forced the Covenant to fall back into cover and took their attention off the entrance to the pass completely. It was then that the Marines poured into the pass, adding their own fire to the fight.

"Let'em have it!" Sergeant Parker cried out.

Bullets ripped into the grunts as the Marines overtook them. Those who survived began to fell back to the opposite end of the area. The jackals were forced to follow as their enemy encroached on their positions.

The grunt's retreat wasn't completely out of fear though. For one of their number, it was a show of initiative. Despite being a rare act, Cortana quickly spotted it immediately.

"Chief, one of the grunts is headed to the turret," she warned, placing a marker over the alien's head. "Take him out!"

Chief located the target, scrambling towards the turret in a last ditch effort to turn the tide of this fight. He would never make it. Chief fired a single shot into the alien's back. It hit at the back of his neck and the little grunt fell dead on the ground. Now there was nothing to stop the advancing Marines.

At the head of the group was Miranda, as Shepard expected. Using her biotics, she picked up one of the Jackals and then slammed him back hard into the ground, the concussive wave of energy knocked a nearby grunt off his feet. She quickly finished him off with two pistol shots to the back before he got up.

"Keep your heads low, Marines," Parker called out over the firefight. "They ain't tough, but their guns still hurt like a bitch!"

While Chiktikka continued to put pressure on the retreating Covenant, her quarian operator stayed close to Professor Mordin. One of the jackals was firing on them as he walked back with his shield. Two grunts were nearby, taking cover in the rocks as the two pushed forward.

Mordin used the situation to their advantage, firing off a cryo-blast from his omni-tool. The attack hit the jackal's shield, leaving the bird-like alien behind it unharmed. However, the two grunts had been caught in the blast radius and were now easy pickings. Tali took aim with her pistol, shattering the bodies of both frozen Covenant.

The jackal still seemed determined to fight on and charged up his plasma pistol in hopes of frying both Mordin and Tali's shields. It was then Shepard dropped down from above, landed behind the Covie and delivered a powerful biotic punch to the back of the jackal's head. The jackal's gun discharged into the air as his face ate dirt. Shepard didn't give him the chance to get back-up and fired a round point blank into the alien's back.

"Bout time you got into the fray," Tali joked. "We were about to win this one without you."

"You had it well in hand," Shepard joked right back. "I just like saving you."

Tali rolled her eyes, but giggled a little all the same. Miranda, who had overheard the conversation, however, was not as amused.

"You know, there are better times you two could do this," she informed them as she took cover nearby behind a rock.

"You know me, shameless." Shepard replied with a snark.

The discussion was then suddenly interrupted by Legion.

"Shepard-Commander," it shouted aloud. "We are detecting alien heat signatures moving in on this position!"

Shepard looked to the forward pass, taking cover with the others.

"Thane, you got eyes on?" He asked the drell. "We may have incoming."

"Nothing yet... wait!" Thane responded. "There are three coming around the ridge now."

Shepard looked as one elite flanked by two grunts rushed up the pass towards them, firing their plasma weapons at the assorted Marines. Thane quickly zeroed in on them, firing one shot that took out one of the grunts. The elite however tucked and rolled away from the next shot the drell fired. He aimed his plasma rifle up into the rocks and fired a barrage.

"He spotted me," Thane said through gritted teeth. "I'm relocating."

At least Thane had taken out some of his support. They would need to catch the elite off guard, however. He now knew there were snipers about and was keeping himself in cover. There were still a few stragglers the Marines were mopping up. They would need to deal with this new development fast before he somehow organized them.

"Kasumi," Shepard called out through his radio. "Please tell me our Ace is in play here."

"Relax, Shep," Kasumi's chipper voice replied. "You know I got your back."

The second gun turret suddenly moved, aiming towards the elite and his grunt behind the rock.

"I also got his," she declared.

The turret suddenly began firing, even though there was no operator inside. Before long Kasumi appeared, firing off plasma blasts at the unsuspecting elite. The grunt took the full brunt of the assault. Riddled with plasma blasts he fell dead almost instantly.

The elite's shields held up and he rolled away from the turret's fire. He tossed a plasma grenade at the turret and Kasumi bailed out as the blue ball arched towards her. Her cloaked activated once more as she hit the ground and the grenade fell into the turret's seat. The explosion sent the gun hurtling off the side of the cliff.

"Kas!" Tali shouted out over the comm, greatly concerned about whether the thief had escaped the blast.

"I'm okay!" Kasumi's voiced quickly replied. "My ears are ringing a bit though."

Tali breathed a sigh of relief. However, while Shepard was glad Kasumi was okay and she had taken out the last grunt to boot, they still had an elite to deal with. He had gone back to ground and was keeping a steady stream of fire on their position. One alien, by himself, was holding back the entire advance. There was a reason these guys were the Covenant's frontline fighters.

"I'm gonna go in from the side," Shepard said. "Chief, Legion, give me cover fire. Five-Eight, stay on the cliff edge pass. Nothing else gets through."

"Nothing will," Linda promised.

Shepard moved through the rocks, past Marines trying to force the elite out of his cover with sporadic fire. The Covie was dug in well though, and even outnumbered he was still holding his own. As Shepard got closer to the flank, Legion and Chief opened up on the rock he was using for cover. It pinned him down and kept him more focused on the sniper threat once more. Shepard had a clear shot from across the way now, the perfect moment to charge right into him.

He propelled forward, biotic energy trailing from him as he sped forward. He caught the elite in the chest, forcing him back into wall of stone the rock touched. The Commander now pulled out his shotgun and prepared to fire point blank into the alien. But the elite had recovered quickly enough to duck away from Shepard's shotgun blast. He charged forward himself and knocked the Commander to the ground with a thud.

The elite now aimed for the Commander's head, but his while his body was still within the protection the rock provided, his charge had positioned him forward enough that one could see his trigger hand. It was enough for the Master Chief. He fired a single round and let the bullet cut clean through the elite's wrist. The alien dropped the gun, screaming in pain, as Shepard levelled the shotgun at the elite's head and fired.

"Good save, Chief." Shepard quickly thanked the Spartan over the radio.

"Wasn't all me. Cortana helped me get a good bead on the enemy, sir." Chief replied.

"A little something Ms. Zorah programmed into me," Cortana quickly clarified. "An improved target systems program she apparently made on Reach as I recall. I've been waiting for a chance to use it."

Shepard made a mental note to thank Tali for mothering over Cortana so much for the past few weeks. However, that would have to wait, as a new development appeared. A gang of grunts quickly rushed down the cliff edge pass, waddling their way into battle. One of them hefted a plasma grenade high into the air.

"Heads up!" Was what Shepard believed his translator picked up from the little alien.

The grunt loosed the grenade soon after, but the explosive wouldn't get far. A thin smoky trail careened into the deadly wad of plasma and caused it to explode. The airburst was so close to the three grunts that the power of the blast forced the trio to fall clean off the side of the cliff to their deaths.

Linda loaded a fresh magazine into her rifle as the plasma cloud dissipated.

"I'm counting that as three by the way," she informed the Chief casually.

"Fair enough," he replied.

Even Miranda was impressed by the shot.

"Maybe I should've paid more attention when my father took up skeet shooting," she reasoned aloud.

"Garrus is going to be so jealous when he hears this," Tali added with a chuckle.

As Shepard got himself to his feet, he heard something else coming up the cliff edge pass. It sounded like the clacking of jackal feet. He got his pistol ready, wondering how many more of these Covenant were coming their way.

But as they rounded the bend, one of the jackals tripped and fell on his face. The second, surprised by what had just happened, stopped in his tracks and tried to shield his friend. Instead, Kasumi appeared beside him and delivered powerful slash to his head with her omni-blade. The jackal collapsed to the ground beside his friend and Kasumi fired a round into the downed enemy, ending the threat for good.

"Still your Ace, Shep?" Kasumi asked as the Commander walked over.

"Always, Kasumi," Shepard replied smiling.

The Marines finally pushed up, a little high on their victory.

"Hey, we did it!" One said "We're right behind you, Chief! You too, Commander!"

It was nice to see their confidence in the mission boost a little in any case.

Chief was the first to get up to the Commander, followed swiftly by the others.

"No more incoming Covenant signatures detected," said Legion. "Further Covenant presence, however, detected further up along the plateau. Estimated seventeen meters until new contacts encountered."

"How do you know that?" Tali asked with an inquisitive look.

"Interception of low frequency inter-communication between Covenant detected," Legion explained.

But Tali's question wasn't so much about the method but the means.

"I mean, how are your scanners able to detect the Covenant so early?" She asked.

Legion looked apprehensive about the question for a mere moment, but finally relented.

"We are boosting our systems with the assistance of program DOT," He explained. "We believed it would be beneficial to the mission to supplement our capabilities with each other."

Tali slapped the forehead of her visor in a disgruntled fashion, a frustrated groan exiting her lips.

"Legion! We had this conversation! Just today in fact! I thought you had put DOT back in her storage unit!" She shouted at him angrily.

"The Covenant attacked before we could properly reinstall her," the geth tried to explain. "We had no choice but to remain with her."

"You had plenty of time on the way to Alpha Base to do just that!" Tali barked at him. "Now you're telling me you've been interfacing with each other all day? Legion, we went over the risks of this!"

DOT's voice suddenly interjected through Legion's voice box.

"Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah, we apologize," she dutifully responded. "I suggested to Legion that we remain connected. After the successful recovery of several lost Marines and Troopers using our connection, I deemed that it would be more beneficial to the current mission if we remained interfaced."

"Good intentions or no, DOT," Tali started as she glared at the two AI. "The fact is you are both putting yourselves at risk remaining this way. Geth hardware is not designed for AIs of your nature and the two of you being connected in such a way is having a serious effect on both of your neural functions. Not might have an effect, it **is** having an effect."

"We have not encountered any malfunctions," Legion argued. "I think you are vastly overestimating the effects of this interfacing. We remained connected to assist in the mission. Why do you find my actions so disagreeable when they have done nothing but benefit us?"

Tali just glared at Legion harder. The Geth soon understood the meaning.

"We just referred to ourselves in the singular," it presumed.

"Twice," Tali elaborated. "It's getting worse, Legion. The more you do this, the more your systems are going to be corrupted by it. It needs to stop."

Shepard put a hand on Tali's shoulder, trying to calm her.

"We can't exactly send him back now, Tali." He told her. "They're here now and it does seem like them interfacing is giving us an edge. Maybe we should just make the best of it."

But Tali wasn't having any of it. She looked back to Shepard, who could already tell her answer to his suggestion.

"We can do what's best for both of them so they don't start glitching out in the middle of a fight," she declared adamantly. "That is what could happen as they both lose their ability to distinguish their programming traits from one another. I'm not going to let them purposely hurt themselves."

"Organics hurt themselves on a regular basis as we have observed frequently," Legion disputed. "Most of said actions occur to elicit a social interaction of some kind. We do not see how this is different from..."

Tali looked back to Legion, still fuming.

"I don't want to hear it," Tali informed him. "Organics also keep bad habits from getting worse if they think there is a problem. And that's what I'm doing right now for your own good."

Tali stretched out her arm and activated her omni-tool.

"Transmit DOT to my omni-tool," she told Legion. "She can still help out, you can still talk to each other, but you will not interface directly or constantly anymore."

Legion looked at Tali, looking rather confused and put back.

"Creator Tal-"

"Now," she demanded, cutting off the geth before he got further.

Legion looked around, but quickly decided not to argue anymore. The geth opened up its systems, accessed Tali's tool and uploaded DOT into it. Tali then checked quickly to see she was inside and then calmed herself.

"I'm doing this because I don't want to see you or her get hurt, Legion," Tali tried to assure the synthetic. "I hope you see that. If I thought there was no risk I wouldn't be bringing this up so much."

Legion didn't say anything back to her, it just walked away, its single eye closed slightly and its plates drooping weakly from its head. As Tali watched the geth walk past her, she sighed and shook her head glumly. DOT spoke up from her Omni-Tool.

"I never wished to cause so much distress." She said. "I only wished to help."

"I know you didn't mean to, I know you both didn't mean to." Tali assured her. She sighed inwardly at the moment, taking in everything she said. "Legion should've told me about this earlier though. I guess they reasoned I'd react like this."

"Do you really think if they keep interfacing this will get worse?" Miranda asked sincerely.

"Legion's systems are becoming less adept at distinguishing from DOT's data stream," Tali explained. "The fact Legion's glitches are becoming more frequent and that DOT was even able to access the platform's voice box itself, not just speak though Legion's omni-tool, is proof of that. The more time they stay together in the same space, the more difficult it will be for the systems to figure out which runtimes and which streams are being processed."

Seeing that some of the group didn't seem to fully understand, Tali used an analogy to better illustrate it all.

"It's like running two different incompatible software programs on the same server with no split hard drive to distinguish the two," she attempted to explain. "It is going to get messy, there are going to be more bugs and you're going to increase the risk of a crash even more. I'm not going to let that happen to either Legion or DOT."

For Shepard, it seemed like an amazing amount of concern from Tali, especially considering it was all centered on Legion. They had gotten closer, but this just seemed very different. Shepard thought of asking where it was all coming from, but he didn't wish to pry too far in. Besides, they still had a job to do, as Cortana reminded them all.

"We need to keep moving," she reminded them. "The Captain won't wait forever. Although I would like to see your data later, Tali, maybe I can help."

"I'd appreciate that, Cortana, for Legion's sake at the very least," the quarian replied graciously.

"Alright then," Miranda said nodding. "If that is settled, let's get moving. We still have a pilot to save."

"And Jack," Kasumi quickly reminded her.

Miranda bit the bottom of her lip.

"Yeah, of course, that goes without saying." She quickly added, slightly exasperated.

The group moved up with the other Marines, leaving Chief with Shepard.

"You get a lot of drama like that on the Normandy?" The Spartan asked him.

"Sometimes it's worse," Shepard admitted.

'Guns-pointed-at-a-synthetic's-head-in-the-AI-Core ' worse, but he didn't say that aloud. He just hoped the rest of this mission would be devoid of that now that the problem was gone.

* * *

Varvok had planned on using his time to prepare for Shepard's arrival, but the relocation of a significant number of his men had become a greater concern. The Covenant was able to order them where they pleased, but they couldn't keep him from checking in on them. He tried to get an assessment of what exactly the Covenant were trying to accomplish, what these excavation sites were about. Unfortunately, his men could only provide him with more questions than answers.

"Our site's radio got hit, so they couldn't call in," Explained Sergeant Kreka through the transmission screen. "Funny thing is though, once we helped them fix it, the Sangheili in charge forced us out. He didn't even say thanks. I'd just say it was typical, but he looked more frantic than angry."

"What about the other units?" Varvok asked him. "Any similar problems encountered on their end?"

"One team says their Sangheili commanders weren't around," Kreka answered. "The unggoy and kig-yar said they had gone after the machines, pushed deeper into the facility and forced everyone else to keep watch on the higher levels. They haven't heard back from them, but the Covenant are apparently sending in replacements in case they aren't coming back."

Varvok couldn't believe a bunch of machines, no matter how advanced, could so easily get the best of a squad of Sangheili. Even outnumbered, they couldn't have all been killed so easily.

"You think they were trapped inside somehow?" He asked the Sergeant. "Maybe the machines triggered some kind of lockdown."

"That's probably what the replacements are going to find out," Kreka surmised. "Meanwhile, over here, they're not even letting us near the excavation entrance. Whole place is off limits. They told us it's because we aren't a part of their faith and crap, but I can feel it, sir. They're antsy, like they're waiting on something."

"Perhaps further clarification of their orders," Varvok suggested. "They may have changed due to the current events."

Kreka shrugged a little and looked away from the camera.

"Maybe," he grunted.

Varvok raised an eyebrow at the remark, but continued pressing on other matters.

"I haven't heard from Teams Six and Seven," he told Kreka. "Have they gotten in touch with you?"

"They got sent to the same site, but the last thing I heard from them was that all communication was getting blacked out from their location," Kreka stated. "It seems that once the sangheili over there got in contact with command, they were ordered to go dark."

But why? They had been trying to get updates from all sites and now they were being ordered to go dark. That didn't make any sense. His mind wondered if the purpose was to keep the men in that location from contacting him. But why would the Covenant want to cut them off from him? Was this their way of reasserting that they were in charge? Varvok didn't know, but he sensed Kreka had an idea. The way he was speaking, the suspicious air in his voice, everything seemed off.

"Sergeant," he began. "I can tell something is on your mind. Do you have an idea about what is going on there?"

Kreka looked around him quickly before he answered.

"Frankly sir," he started cautiously, his voice lowered. "This place gives me the creeps. The sangheili look on edge and you don't see that often. Nothing gets to them, so that's got me worried. They're hiding something from us, sir. Something they don't want us to know about. Maybe they found something down in those bunkers they're digging up, maybe not, but the point is they're not telling us the whole story."

A few hours ago, Varvok would've told Kreka to relax and remind him of the mission, maybe even assure him things were going to be okay. But that was before the Covenant had made it clear what they thought of him. Given the evidence Kreka had given him, he admitted to himself that something did indeed feel wrong about all of this.

"Sometimes you have to trust your instincts," Varvok told him. "Keep an eye on your men and on the sangheili. I'll see if I can get you back here. For now, comply with the Covenant and keep clear of that excavation site. If something in there has them spooked we want no part of it. Tell the other Squad Commanders, just to be sure."

Kreka just nodded in compliance.

"Good luck on your end, sir," he said as he signed off.

Varvok couldn't help but be suspicious about all this. Maybe it was Zek and his pirates still in his head, but he couldn't shake the bad feeling he had. He just hoped his men would stay out of harm's way until he got there. For now, he had to stop Shepard. With any luck it would gain him enough favour with the Supreme Commander that he'd be able to gain more clout in this operation. At the very least, he'd be able to keep the blasted Covenant from stealing his command away again.

* * *

They had to trek about a mile in after they landed. The Pelicans could've been spotted if they got closer. They soon arrived at the staging area, a series of rocks overlooking the _Autmun's_ crash site. The ship had crashed near a sea side cliff, its' nose leaning off the edge. Most of the ship's girth was resting on the ground, so the ship was more than likely stable enough. It appeared to be, for the most part, intact. That was no doubt owed to UNSC engineering.

For that reason alone, it was little surprise the Covenant had so quickly taken up residence in the ship. They obviously had no intention of using the weapons inside. No, they were only here to make sure no one who wasn't Covenant got inside. The heavy defences they had set up around the perimeter almost certainly assured that would remain the case. Breaking in would not be as easy as they had hoped.

Garrus watched the Covenant defenders through his scope. They had coverage over every major chokepoint. He spied a number of Jackals up high on the bulkheads of the ship, acting as snipers. There were Ghosts parked at the near back of the inner perimeter, their elite drivers standing by to go at a moment's notice. The real concern Garrus had, however, were the turrets. They were spaced appropriately apart, giving the Covenant a lot of coverage over a wide area. Despite underestimating humans, they weren't taking any chances.

There had to be a weakness in the defence though. After a good while of checking, he believed he had an idea. He went to confer with Kat about it. He would've gone to talk to both her and Silva, but he was away on his own little recon mission for the moment. That, and Garrus had a feeling the Major wasn't in the mood to talk to aliens anyway.

At least Kat was willing to listen.

"Are you sure?" She asked him.

"We're going to get slaughtered if we stick to the original plan," he reiterated. "A pincer movement could still work, but if we try to charge them we won't last long. We need to get close enough to take out the majority of their gunners, remove their coverage, but without eliminating the element of surprise. If they believe we're already inside their lines then they'll put more focus on trying to expel us first. That would allow a second team to hit them while their back is turned and really get inside their ranks."

"Sounds risky as hell, Garrus," Jun expressed as he twirled a bullet in his fingers. "We may get spotted before we're able to get into position."

"It's better than charging forward and risking one of the pincers failing because the plasma rakes them," Garrus replied. "And as long as we stick to our cover we should be okay."

"Problem," Zaeed spoke up. "How do we convince the good Major? He isn't exactly fond of you, given how he keeps giving you the damn eyes every time you get close to him."

"We can figure out a way to persuade him," Garrus assured the old mercenary. "We work with Shepard after all. We must've picked up a few pointers from that silver tongue of his by now."

In all honesty, however, Garrus wasn't so sure he had much of a chance at convincing Silva. A part of him hoped that his concern for his fellow ODSTs would win out over his obvious prejudice. He thought about asking either Jacob or Zaeed to suggest the plan to him, or at least have Kat back him up on things.

"We'll try and talk to him," Kat told him. "But we should hear what he thinks of the situation first."

They soon saw they wouldn't have to wait long to find out. Major Silva, along with Lieutenant McKay and Sergeant Buck, was moving up towards their position higher in the rocks. He passed by several Marines, ODSTs and Army Troopers on his way up. They were all laying low in the rock, waiting for the inevitable signal to start moving in.

Silva soon hunched down beside Garrus and Kat, looking a little flustered.

"They seem to have the place covered pretty tight," he stated. "We're going to have to alter our plan a bit if we stand any chance of breaking their lines."

Garrus inwardly breathed a small sigh of relief. If he was already open to changing tactics maybe he wouldn't make much of a stink over his new plan.

"I agree," Kat quickly concurred. "Those guns seem to have every angle covered and the snipers on the ship's bulkhead will make things even more difficult for us. Do you have a suggestion?"

"We have rocket launchers," Silva pointed out. "An opening barrage would knock out most of the turrets on one flank. My ODSTs could then move in during the confusion and your team will then hit them from your end. A small change, I'll admit, but effective enough that we won't have to worry about close to half the guns."

Garrus admitted that it could work. Silva's strategy was certainly less risky than his plan. However, it wouldn't deal with all the guns. Team Two would still have to charge in with a mostly full array of turrets pointing in their direction. The facts of the matter didn't slip by Kat either.

"You're asking my team to take on the bulk of the guns while your ODSTs move in for the first blow," she pointed out to him. "You may kill half their turrets, but that won't help out our flank. I think a simultaneous strike on their perimeter defences would prove more beneficial."

"I imagine you'll be able handle the extra work, Lieutenant Commander," Silva stated. "You are built for it after all."

There was a brief but painful period of anxiety as Kat looked at the Major. She then turned to Garrus.

"Vakarian here has a different strategy. One I think can work in tandem with yours." She began.

Garrus silently grumbled.

'_Way to put me in the hot seat'_, he thought to himself.

"I was thinking," he started trying not to sound too unsure of himself. "We could get Team Two close enough that we're practically within their perimeter already and launch a surprise attack. We'd be able to kill most of their gunners on our end before they notice what had happened. We wouldn't have to rush forward on either side in a lighting strike attack."

"And how would you get close enough that they don't notice you?" Silva asked sceptically.

Garrus breathed deep and pointed out towards the ship and the large gash it had left in the earth.

"We can crawl along that gash," he elaborated. "Then we could use it as a makeshift trench. It would provide us sufficient cover and we'd be in perfect position to line up shots on the Covenant defenders."

Silva eyed the gash with a glare, shaking his head all the while.

"That is going to take you a lot of time to pull off," Silva informed the turian. "We'd be left exposed after our first strike waiting for you to pull off yours."

"Then maybe Team Two should initiate first contact," Kat suggested. "Then your men could fire those rockets and destroy the remaining turrets."

Silva looked at Kat like he had just been insulted.

"You're asking the ODSTs to be the second ones into the fight?" He asked, seemingly in disbelief.

"No," Kat replied coolly. "We're informing you of a better way. Your men won't be any less important to our success just because they go in second."

Despite his discomfort, Silva did look like he was thinking the idea over in his head. At the very least he was starting to consider it. Thankfully, McKay finally spoke up to ease the concerns that held him back from giving the go ahead.

"Sir," she began. "I think it could work. I've gotten a good look at both sides. I could probably point out a few of the turrets in Team One's way to them. We wouldn't have to waste as many rockets."

"Romeo is a pretty good shot too," Buck suddenly spoke up. "I can add to their firepower if I go with them, take out a few extra Covies too."

Silva finally relented with a curt nod. With ODSTs working on both ends of the assault, he seemed to have been placated enough that he warmed to Garrus' strategy.

"Alright," he said. "But you better get moving, Lieutenant Commander. The longer we're out here the more dangerous this situation gets."

"I'm aware of that," Kat assured him.

Silva left Buck and McKay behind to organize his men. It had all gone over better than Garrus expected and even better, Buck was coming along now.

"Hope this plan of yours turns out okay, Garrus," the Sergeant told him. "I'd hate to think I just volunteered for a suicide mission."

"I volunteered for a suicide mission and I'm okay," Garrus shot back sarcastically.

"That's debatable," Buck joked back at him. "Just get us close to those guns and we'll put them out of commission."

He knew he could count on Buck, but McKay was a different story. Garrus barely knew her, save for the fact she was Silva's right hand. It was a bit of a surprise to him that she had volunteered. Garrus didn't like acting paranoid, but he couldn't help but wonder the reason why. Kat felt the same way.

"You realise while you're working on my team you'll have to follow my lead, Lieutenant," the Spartan informed her. "Do you take issue with that?"

"None ma'am," McKay replied instantly. "We have a mission. That comes first before anything."

"I honestly wonder if your Major feels the same way," Kat told her, crossing her arms.

McKay seemed a bit bothered by the comment, but not entirely surprised. Without breaking her military stance, she coolly replied to Kat's statement.

"Major Silva is a good man, but he sometimes let's his opinion cloud things," she admitted to her. "Try to understand, however, he has a particular idea of how the military should work. That and despite being in command of the Battalion he was not offered the position of Lieutenant Colonel. War brings out the worst in people and institutions, including bureaucracy."

Garrus imagined Shepard could relate to that. Despite running his own ship he still hadn't been promoted to Captain. Then again, he wasn't in the Alliance anymore, so it was somewhat out of their hands for the moment. Shepard never seemed to have let it get to him though. Never once did he complain about not being called Captain. And that included the time before Tali started calling him that on and off. It was a quarian thing he supposed, one that felt a bit weird to him. It was either that or a girlfriend thing, which still felt weird.

Garrus, realising his thoughts were drifting, went back to listening to McKay.

"Despite what you think, Silva is an incredible Field Commander and I'm proud to serve alongside him. That does not mean I always agree with his assessments," the Lieutenant confided in them. "I have no grudge against Spartans, never have. You've saved countless lives in this war and that's something to be admired for. The true measure of a soldier, I feel, is not in the battles you win, but the people you protect in doing it."

"Good philosophy to live by," Jun chimed in, before turning to Kat. "We should really get going though."

Kat nodded, but turned one last time to McKay.

"For what it's worth, Lieutenant, I appreciate the sentiment and agree with you," she assured her. "If my own Commander was here, he'd feel the same way too. Now then, let's get in there and get our stuff back shall we?"

McKay seemed relieved at the acknowledgement from the Spartan and smiled slightly. Kat walked off with everyone else behind her. They'd gather up the rest of the team and move out. Garrus kept his eyes on Kat, however. She had let her thoughts drift a little herself back there. Now more than ever he was glad to be here. He'd have to wait to talk to her though. They still had guns to clear.

* * *

The jackal on top of the small ridge opened up on the group below. Everyone was forced to duck to cover behind the large dead tree along the path or the series of rocks scattered about it. Thane eased his crosshairs onto the top of the Jackal's head and fired. The bullet shot down and hit the top of the bird-creature's head. He fell over the side of the ridge and down onto the ground below, frightening a grunt that he landed near.

At least the Master Chief had taken out the gunner on the edge of the ridge on that first shot. A jackal firing behind his shield was considerably less dangerous than a fully automatic plasma hose. That didn't mean they could relax, however. Thane's position on top of the cliffs gave him a perfect view of everything down below. There was a second gun for one, as well as a small compliment of elites trying to direct the firefight. He would have to pick his targets carefully.

He had already decided the second gun would be the first to go, as it was lined up with the team's route deeper into Covenant territory. Shepard could handle the grunts and jackals below for now and none of the elites were currently a problem.

He set his sights directly below him instead. This would be an easy kill, as the grunt was too focused on what was about to come around the bend to be mindful of all his surroundings. Thane lined up the shot perfectly and fired. The grunt's head was split down the middle by a shredder round. The turret was no longer a threat.

However, as he pulled back the scope's magnification, he saw a threat he had missed. One of the elites had been hiding in a small alcove between the ridge and his cliff. From out of the shadows, he rushed forward towards the charging ground team. He fired into the Marines rushing forward, nailing one of them in the back. He fell forward, the space between his shoulder blades smoking.

Thankfully, the Master Chief honed in on the incoming plasma shots and quickly opened up on the elite. He peppered the alien with rounds, but they just bounced off the shield. The elite dodged and ducked subsequent incoming fire. He closed the distance with the Spartan, only to receive a powerful blow to his jaw courtesy of the stock of Chief's rifle. The elite tried to recover and aimed to the pummel the Spartan with his own weapon, but the Chief caught the arm before it could swing down fully.

Thane kept an eye on the whole scene through his scope, hoping to catch a moment where he could shoot the elite without harming the Spartan. Chief continued to punch the elite in the jaw, his plasma weapon discharging in the air. The elite remained resolute regardless and managed to kick the Spartan away at last.

However, as he was pushed away, Chief grabbed at the plasma rifle and pried it from the Elite's grasp. It was of little consequence for the alien, he pulled out his plasma pistol as a back-up. He was able to get off a shot first, but Chief rolled away the second he touched dirt. The plasma blast only hit a bush and Chief fired a furious volley from the plasma rifle at the elite. The Covie shuddered at every hit. With his shields dwindling, he made a run for it.

Thane still had him in his sights though. He fired a shot at the elite and the bullet hit him in the back hip. It cut through the alien's shields, wiping them out, and wounded him gravely. Chief wasted no time in using the moment to his advantage and fired another burst from his assault rifle. The Covenant officer was hit center mass and collapsed dead to the ground.

"Nice shot, Thane," Chief said through his radio as he ran back into the fight.

"I was trying to aim for the square of his back," Thane informed him humbly. "I may need to fix the sights on this gun. Thank you for the compliment though."

He could already see the remaining grunts and at least two jackals making a hasty retreat around the ridge. The Marines were in hot pursuit, Shepard close by with the rest of the team. Thane kept a close eye on them, he wasn't about to let his guard down just because that elite was dead. If anything, it made him more wary of the elites still on the field.

Miranda fired her submachine gun into the fleeing crowd, only for a Jackal to turn and block the incoming shots aimed at him. The Normandy's XO easily made one of her pull attacks loop around the side of the alien, forcing him into the air. A few seconds later, she followed it up with a warp attack, detonating the biotic energy surrounding the target and killing him.

By now the rescue team had split up considerably within the area. Most of the Marines, Sergeant Parker included, went off after the grunts that were fleeing towards the turret guns. If any of them made it back to those turrets it would most certainly become a problem.

Thane would've selected any one of the front runner grunts as targets, but the situation was already well in hand. Both Linda and Legion had rushed to the top of the ridge and were providing sniper fire on the fleeing grunts' flank. Miranda was also with the Marines on their push, firing her heavy pistol into the backs of the fleeing aliens and tossing out warp attacks to further slow their dash for the turrets. Together, they kept the little gas suckers from reaching their goal, cutting them down with ease. No sense in wasting bullets on that.

Meanwhile, two elites had regrouped on the top of a small hill that overlooked the whole area. They had the high ground for the moment and they were using it to their full advantage. They had a jackal up there with them, providing what little cover he could afford on the mostly barren hill top. The nimble little bird was doing an adequate job keeping up with the incoming shots to say the least.

Eventually, Shepard had enough and let loose a shockwave that tossed the jackal into the air. The elites dove out of the way before they could get caught, but the momentarily lapse in their fire allowed Shepard to get up close, Chief closing in as well. Both Tali and Mordin moved in

Mordin had scooped up a plasma pistol from the ground and fired a charged bolt at the Chief's elite. The alien's shields fell, but that didn't necessarily carry over to him. He tried to fire back on Mordin, only for the Chief to body-check him to the ground. Chief aimed his gun to blast the alien's head off, but the Elite caught the rifle in his hand and pushed it up. The weapon discharged into the soil instead. Chief then decided to just kick the alien's head in before pounding his fist into him for a final blow.

Tali had sent Chiktikka forward to help out Shepard. The elite, however, was able to manage his time between the two foes. Shepard fired off his shotgun once again, only for the elite to roll and the blast to miss. When Chiktikka got up behind the elite, the alien fired down into the drone before it could get off a shot.

Thankfully, Chief had dealt with his elite by now and offered some assistance by firing two shots from his sniper rifle that dropped the Covie's shields down and broke his avoiding streak. Chief then tossed Shepard a plasma grenade off his dead elite, inactivate of course. Shepard caught the explosive, primed it and then let the elite rush forward, firing his plasma rifle. Shepard dove to the side and turned in the air to throw his grenade at the elite's back. It stuck onto the alien's left shoulder blade, but the elite didn't stop. He kept running towards the Chief, who fired every round in his assault rifle in hopes of stopping the alien cold.

Thane was about to shoot the elite, but soon found that unnecessary as well. Mordin threw a neural shock attack that froze the alien in place. As insult to injury, Tali fired a blast from her shotgun that forced the alien to roll down the hill away from them, before unceremoniously exploding.

"Think that was a little overkill?" Cortana's voice chimed in over the team's open channel with the Spartans and the Normandy squad.

"Maybe a bit," Tali admitted.

"Better to make sure the enemy stays down," Mordin suggested.

"Works for me," the Chief added.

It all looked pretty much like a successful skirmish, but Thane remained vigilant. He looked on ahead to the path on the ledge that would lead to the next section and saw three grunts running across it. They had their weapons trained on Shepard and Chief's position, but Thane wouldn't give them the chance to get off a shot. He fired once, taking out a grunt through the eyes. His body went limp against the wall of the cliff, stopping his compatriots in their tracks. He switched targets, fired again and caught the next grunt through his mouth. He collapsed onto the ledge. The final grunt tried to retreat, but Thane tracked him up the path and let off another shot. He caught him in the back of the neck. He watched the alien fall off the side of the ledge and into the abyss below.

"Your way is clear, Commander." He informed Shepard.

Shepard looked on Thane's handiwork and congratulated the drell jubilantly.

"It's good to have you watching our backs, Thane," he told him. "Meet us at the next defensive position. We're over halfway to the gravity lift."

"I'll see you there," Thane promised. "Keep your heads down until I get to you."

As always, a little patience, a little skill and a little luck were all a professional sniper needed. The Covenant were putting up a tough fight though, and once they got inside that ship hovering over their heads all bets would be off. He hoped Jack and Joker could hold out awhile longer. Something told Thane that the next pass, along with the gravity lift itself, wouldn't be so easily taken.

* * *

Garrus kept his body close to the ground as they crawled forward along the gash in the earth. It was slow going, but it was their best bet at not getting spotted by the Covenant. Everyone was maintaining the same level of silence, no chatter, no nothing. Not until they got in position. They weren't about to get spotted this close to the Covenant turrets. Garrus himself could hear the idle chatter of a few grunts and their elite overseers. That was how quiet, and how close, they were.

Regardless of the risky strategy he was employing, he had full confidence in their ability to pull it off. Samara and Jacob were on the biotic angle, they had plenty of well trained marksmen on the team, Kat was coordinating things, he had a trusted friend in Buck and Grunt was, well, Grunt. All of that made him pretty confident.

Buck and his team weren't the only familiar faces along for the ride. When they were rounding up Troopers and Marines for the mission, Garrus spotted a familiar face within the Trooper ranks, Corporal Ann Sanders. She had been among the Army troopers that had assisted him in getting to the _Autumn_ with that fragment of Cortana when Reach fell. He knew she had gotten aboard the ship before the planet fell, but he didn't expect to find her on mission. She, and what was left her squad, had been folded into Holland's division. Needless to say, she was happy to see the scarred turian again.

"I saw you were on this one," she had said to him. "Didn't think we'd run into each other again, but hey, small ring world."

She seemed pretty eager to get cracking on this mission, telling Garrus she still wanted some payback for being stuck running from the damn Covenant since Reach. When she started hearing rumours about a counter-attack, she jumped at the chance to join. Garrus was glad to have her, another friendly face among the group made him feel more at ease.

In good time, they eventually made it as far along the gash as they could. They were now within a good distance of the enemy perimeter. Not close enough to be spotted, but not far enough away that they couldn't get a good bead on their targets. Garrus quickly checked the positions of the turrets, scanning the defence lines carefully.

"I'm kinda wishing Legion was here," he stated. "They could've pinpointed these targets for all of us."

"Can you see some of the snipers from here?" McKay asked.

Garrus looked up on the bulkhead. Sure enough, he could pinpoint a few of them, but there were a number who appeared to be out of sight, blocked by the massive bulk of the ship.

"At least the ship offers some additional cover from sniper fire," he reasoned.

"We should still keep an eye on them," Jun warned. "If the ones that can potentially see us notice something is wrong, we're toast."

"With any luck, Silva will be ready to start firing those rockets before that," Kat rationalized. "Until then, we pick the targets and we take them down. Tell the squads to fan out along the gash. We need to get a decent amount of coverage. We're practically on their backsides sitting here. If they want to engage us properly they'll have to come out of their protective little layer of defences. By then, Silva will have started his attack and then we can make our move."

The word spread down the line and soon every sharpshooter and rifleman was set up and had their eyes trained down the firing line. They had to be careful they weren't picking the same targets, they wanted to hit as many of the gunners on the first barrage.

It required a lot of communication. Luckily, Kat was on hand to offer, double checking each of the critical turrets that were in their sights. The omni-tools the squad leaders had been supplied were of great help as well, properly transmitting covered sectors and intel among the squads. Everyone kept informed of what Covenant were in the area and specific targets to watch out for after the first shot was fired. It would still take awhile before they were all ready to start shooting.

Garrus kept his eyes on his target for over ten minutes while everyone got prepared. He kept watching the grunt adjust himself in his seat, strain his neck now and then to see over the massive gun in his face and even scan the area around him regularly to look on the others gunners in his section. It was peculiar to look this long at the little methane breather. Garrus had gotten use to them being the fastest to die.

Those ten minutes gave Garrus a lot of time to think about his target. It was all he could do. For him, it felt like a new experience. He had always been so confident in pulling the trigger countless times before. Even with other gas suckers he hadn't hesitated and that wouldn't change.

Regardless, he could see in his target's eyes how he didn't want to be here anymore than these Marines did. He looked cold, he looked tired and he generally looked ill at ease sitting in that turret of his. Most of his targets were monsters or scum, he had never thought he'd have targets that he could empathise with somewhat. But he couldn't deny what he felt, his crosshairs shook every now and then and his breathing had grown heavier.

It was a shame Garrus kept to himself, but wondered if anyone felt the same way. He doubted many of the Marines cared much by now about these enslaved methane breathers. Maybe Silva had a point when he said they didn't belong on this mission.

In the end though, the lives of these Marines versus the life of an enemy trumped everything else in his book. It would just be another thing added to the long list of regrets that he unfortunately had built up over the years. C-Sec, the failed entry into the Spectres, family issues, lost chances with girls, Sidonis, Carter, he'd live with it all because he had to. Just like Kat would have to.

He wondered; did she feel bad about killing these little aliens as much as he did? He only took his eyes off target for a second to give her a quick glance, an attempt to read her. Hard to do when she was wearing a helmet that covered her whole face. Kinda like someone else he knew.

Garrus shook the thoughts out of his head. This was no time to be going over that, but he couldn't help it. Not with Carter still on his mind, what with his wish to speak to Kat about it.

'_This is why sniping is so much easier when it's done without thinking too much into it,'_ he thought to himself.

Finally, Kat informed the sharpshooters.

"You have the solution. Fire when you're ready," She ordered.

He knew this was it and as expected he did not hesitate. Garrus held his breath, waited for the gunner to sweep left, aimed for the grunt's eye and pressed down on the trigger. Half a millisecond later, the grunt fell clean out of his seat, lying dead on the ground in a pool of his own blood.

Garrus' kill was the first of many. Gunners dropped like flies around the area, the grunts operating them falling onto the dirt. If the first shot didn't hit, the follow up raked the turret with fire. Some lucky gunners abandoned their weapons after hearing the first barrage miss them. They did not know where the shot had come from, only that they were a sitting duck. The grunts were cowardly, but they certainly weren't stupid.

The elites along the defence line were not pleased by the retreating gas breathers. One of them scooped up a fleeing gunner by his scrawny neck and started squeezing. Seconds later two shots punched into the elite. One dropped his shields while the other blew off his head. The elite's body collapsed and the little grunt ran free.

Garrus brought his head up from the scope, he had probably only brought that little Covie a few extra minutes of life, but at least a Marine's bullet would be quicker than suffocation. He quickly put his eye back down along the gun, as there were other targets to pick out.

Not every turret had lost its gunner or been abandoned, some had survived the initial barrage. The bullet had either missed or bounced off the gun. They were frantically searching for where the gunfire was coming from. Some elites were even taking initiative to re-man the guns, rather than waste them trying to rally the grunts. The sharpshooters would need to keep up the pressure to drain the defenders' resources.

One gunner spotted the Marines' position in the gash and began opening up. Everyone ducked their heads low as plasma fire scorched the earth over their heads. All save for Samara who wasn't being suppressed by the plasma at the moment. The asari let loose a powerful throw attack that sped across the open ground and slammed into the top of the gun. The attack toppled the gun over onto its back, its three tripod legs stood up in the air as the grunt gunner inside crawled out of the useless weapon.

Samara dropped back down into the cover of the gash alongside the other Marines. Their krogan super-soldier, Grunt, was not far from her. Garrus asked Samara to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't run off before it was time. He was staying put, but that didn't mean he was patient.

"Do we get to charge them now?" He asked grumbling, reloading a thermal clip into his assault rifle.

"We wait for the Major to make his move," Samara reminded him. "Attacking now will lead to our slaughter."

"Or theirs," Grunt snorted. "I can take them all on."

"I don't think Shepard would approve of that potential strategy," Samara argued.

Grunt sighed heavily, knowing she was right. The thought of him disappointing Shepard was probably the only thing holding him back. He popped up once again to fire full auto into the enemy lines. He kept his gun near his hip as the bullets flew from his barrel. It was a furious display, but he came back down growling again.

"We're still too far away," he bellowed. "I can't hit anything!"

Samara shook her head, Grunt was always so over eager to shoot and he was no marksman. He preferred getting up close rather than shooting at a distance. It wasn't that he couldn't aim, it was just he didn't have the patience for it. Samara looked to the Marines nearby to see how they were doing. Those with the fully automatic rifles were content to put down suppression fire, but that wasn't what Grunt did. Samara looked to Kowalski who was nearby, firing away with his DMR. It was then she came up with an idea.

"Do you mind trading weapons, Private?" She asked him.

Kowalski looked at her confused.

"I don't think I get the question," he admitted.

"The krogan needs to learn some basics on marksmanship," she elaborated. "I think he'd benefit using a different gun."

Kowalski shrugged and handed over his DMR. Samara then took Grunt's Avenger Rifle and handed it to Kowalski. She placed the DMR in the Krogan's hands.

"Look down the scope, actually aim for once and then shoot," she informed him. "You'll find it a lot more satisfying."

Grunt looked sceptical, but followed the Asari's instructions. He popped up, looked down the scope and found a jackal running along the perimeter, his shield over his head. Instinctively, he went for the legs, firing a few bursts at them. The jackal plopped down to the ground in a heap and another burst of bullets finished him.

"Hey, this **is** a lot more satisfying," Grunt grinned broadly. "I'm actually hitting stuff. Still would prefer getting close enough to beat them into the ground though."

Samara rolled her eyes, at least he wasn't complaining as much. As for Kowalski, he seemed fine with the Avenger. Specifically because of the inferno rounds modification attached to the weapon. One of the stray shots hit the methane tank on one of the gas breathers in the Covenant ranks. The explosion took out a nearby Jackal to boot.

"You seriously need to share more of these guns with us," he said cheerfully to her.

"You will need to ask Shepard, possibly Miranda as well," she informed him with a slight smile. "For now, we have a battle to win."

Kowalski's squad mate, Ellingham, was also near two Normandy crew members, Jacob Taylor and Zaeed Massani. The old merc was firing away with an Incisor sniper rifle while Jacob fired away with his Vindicator. Their current target was an elite and two grunts taking cover behind one of those large purple boxes the Covenant always had scattered about their field bases. As Ellingham recalled they were like little gun lockers where the Covies stored their plasma guns. Currently, the elite was firing away with two plasma rifles in each hand, although he remained behind cover regardless.

"Bastard is dug in," Zaeed observed with a grimace. "If we were just a little closer I could probably force him out with a damn grenade."

"Just keep shooting his position," Jacob told him. "We gotta keep him from getting on those turrets again."

"At this rate I'll run out of thermal clips before we even reach the bloody ship." The old mercenary growled. "There has got to be a better way."

Another barrage of plasma bolts flew over their heads and they ducked down into cover as the bolts sailed over them.

"I wish he would keep his head out of cover long enough for us to actually take him down," Jacob admitted.

Ellingham stuck his head up, hoping maybe he could snag a peak at the elite as he stuck his head out again. Maybe he could help Jacob and Zaeed take him down. Instead he spotted something else. Moving up through the darkness, a Ghost attack vehicle sped closer. It pulled up close to the dual-wielding elite's cover.

"Hey," he said, catching the attention of the two Normandy squad members. "I think they're gonna use that Ghost as cover."

They both looked up out of cover to get a look at what Ellingham was pointing out. Sure enough, they saw the ghost just hover out of harm's way, getting ready to move in.

"Well that's not good," Jacob noted. "Zaeed, think you can kill the driver?"

"Sure, but wait till they get out into the open," he suggested. "Then we can take down his friend when he comes out."

Jacob nodded and turned back to Ellingham.

"Think you can lend us a gun?" He asked.

Ellingham just nodded and readied his weapon.

The Ghost moved out onto the field and it began firing wildly on the gash as it did. The Covenant behind the cover moved out with it. Ellingham fired on the Ghost's fins, trying to direct the driver's attention towards him so Zaeed could take the shot. The tactic apparently worked and the driver moved the ghost towards Ellingham's fire. The Marine ducked down as plasma shot over his head.

The Ghost kept strafing as it hovered forward, but the driver's head was exposed enough for Zaeed to get a shot off. Zaeed fired a three-round disruptor burst from his Incisor. The bullets burned the shield away in two shots and the third connected with the elite's head, killing him instantly. The ghost dropped dead in the middle of the field, the roaming cover it provided ended.

The grunts tried to bolt for safety, but Jacob and Ellingham had them both covered. They fired several bursts at them before they reached a nearby turret. As for the dual-wielding elite he made his own separate run, trying to get to the seat of another turret. He most likely felt the Ghost wasn't his safest bet seeing as how his friend had been gunned down. However, Zaeed had a lock on him. As the elite strafed towards the turret, Zaeed fired several bursts at him. Eventually, enough shots connected to rip apart the elite's shields, but he still kept running.

"Speedy bastard," Zaeed growled.

He took aim one last time, leading the target. Just before the elite got to the turret he fired one last barrage and sent him cartwheeling into the dirt. Zaeed didn't celebrate though.

"Wish that Major Silva would attack already," he glowered. "We're busting our asses here."

"He'll attack soon enough," Jacob assured. "He won't keep his fellow Marines and ODSTs hanging, even if a Spartan is commanding them."

Zaeed's concerns were slowly being shared by that said Spartan. Kat was with McKay, helping to coordinate sharpshooters to take out some of the guns on the far side of the defensive line. It wasn't easy from their position, but they had to at least try and assist Silva when he made his move.

Other than that, Kat was just trying to keep the guns clear of new operators. The fewer turrets remained active when they went in, the better off they would be. Kat kept searching for grunts and elites trying to make runs for their vacant guns. McKay assisted as best she could.

"One grunt making a move on turret SE7," Kat warned, typing commands on her omni-tool to the squad leaders.

McKay fired her DMR, taking down another grunt moving for a second gun.

"We seem to be pulling in a few more from the other end of the line," she noted. "I'm guessing we're becoming a nuisance by now."

"I have confirmed kills on some of the turrets on Silva's side," Kat informed her. "I'd say you're right. I hope Silva appreciates it."

"He will, he probably just won't admit it," McKay explained. "Don't let his pride fool you though. He's there when you need him. Just give him a few more minutes."

Kat hoped McKay was right, she did not intend to stick it out much longer here. It would be only a matter of time before the Covenant decided to just charge out and overtake this position. They had the numbers to do it.

Suddenly there was a shot that threw up dirt in their faces and both of them dropped back down into the gash.

"Damn, snipers are zeroing in," Kat grumbled.

As she said that, one of the Marines took a shot to the shoulder and collapsed into the gash beside them. Seeing that prompted Kat to get on the radio.

"Jun, I want you to clear out those snipers up top, now!" She ordered.

Over by his position Jun complied and began scanning the bulkhead up top. He noticed another sniper, an ODST in blue, joining him in the search, scanning the bulkhead himself.

"So," the ODST suddenly said. "Spartan, huh? You don't look as tall as they say."

"Different model," Jun explained, sounding a bit uncomfortable.

"Oh really? They give you extra cup holders or something?" The ODST joked.

Jun didn't laugh and he was already annoyed by the Shock Trooper's bravado. Then again, he suspected that he wasn't trying to get him to laugh.

"You can call me Romeo by the way," he said.

"Jun," the Spartan replied. "You see a sniper?"

"One actually," Romeo answered. He suddenly fired his weapon. "Now I see none."

Jun scanned the bulkhead some more and spotted another jackal gunning for the gash, beside him was a second.

"I'm seeing two, seven feet west of one of the second grid," he explained. "I'll need you to take one."

"I could take both," Romeo suggested.

"Just take one," Jun told him sternly, he had no intention of getting into some kind of competition here.

Romeo shrugged slightly, but obeyed. Whatever obvious hostility he was trying to cover passed and he followed the Spartan's lead. He placed his crosshairs over the target further up and Jun the lower one.

"On my count," said Jun, "one, two, three!"

They both shot at the same time and the two jackals fell from their dizzying heights. Romeo looked to Jun.

"Not bad," he said. "I think I still could've killed them alone."

"Just look for more," Jun insisted.

Romeo followed his lead again, but Jun still felt annoyed by his constant presence.

A few feet down the line, Buck and Dutch moved down by Garrus as he took another shot on the Covenant positions.

"What are you two doing down here?" He asked.

"Word from the Spartan," Dutch explained. "Said there was increasing activity in this grid and asked for a few extra guns."

"Well she ain't wrong," Garrus admitted. "The Covenant seem to be massing around here. I think they're getting organized. I keep seeing a few squads probing the open field, trying to find weak spots. They'll definitely attack soon."

Plasma bolt flew into the dirt nearby and Dutch returned fire with his assault rifle.

"That looked like turret fire," Buck observed. "Hope it's not operational for long."

"We're all trying our best, but with so many targets it's hard to keep track," Garrus explained. "Silva better be ready soon or we aren't gonna last long."

"Don't worry bud, a guy like the Major probably just wants to wait for the last moment," Buck explained. "You know, the glorious big damn hero rescuing troops in distress and all. He won't be late."

Another barrage of plasma struck dirt and this time all three of them opened up on the direction it had come from. Eventually the grunt inside the turret flopped out from the combined focused fire.

"I'd like to see him show up now, to be honest," Garrus grumbled. "He was chewing me out over the prospect of us taking too long after all and I'd-"

Before he could say anything else, Garrus heard a large series of explosions erupt from the far side of the Covenant line. The massed Covenant suddenly pulled back, half of them moving towards the explosions. Garrus watched as destroyed turrets skidded across the ground, pieces flying off. A number of ghosts tried to take off towards the incoming attack, only to be destroyed themselves by rockets colliding with them.

Well, at the very least Garrus couldn't call Silva a hypocrite.

"See," Buck said, his open hand outstretched ahead. "Big damn hero moment."

"Finally!" Came the uproarious bellow of a krogan further down the line.

As to be expected, Garrus watched as Grunt and several Marines were the first to go over the top and charge the Covenant positions. Pretty much everyone else followed suit. Kat had said they would charge in the second Silva attacked, so there was no need for an order to move in.

"Well, time to storm the field I guess." Dutch shrugged.

"And me without my bugle," Buck added. "Coming with, Vakarian?"

"Like I'd miss this," Garrus chuckled.

The three of them stood up and went over the top themselves. They fired into the Covenant lines they rushed forward. Garrus switched to his Vindicator and sprayed rounds on the turrets, making sure they stayed off limits to the Covenant.

The on rush of humans didn't deter all the Covenant, one of the elites charged forward, his plasma rifle blazing. He didn't get too far before a biotic attack pulled him into the air where Jacob fired off a few rounds into his torso and kept moving.

Before long, the group had breached the enemy line, Grunt bulldozing over a turret as he arrived. Garrus fired on the retreating Covenant as the elites went to make a final stand. He could see the ODSTs from Silva's group already moving in. They just had to finish off the defenders here and then they could start gathering the stuff needed. Garrus only hoped Shepard was doing as well on his end.

* * *

The elite didn't seem to notice anything. He was too busy on his patrol of the area. That would make him easy to pick off. He wondered if the Covenant knew they were in the area by now. Surely the firefights had been heard. The elite looked like he was on alert, but it appeared that no alarm had been sounded. Regardless, every Covenant in the area would hear the next shot.

The bullet shot out and cut deep into the elite's shields. He turned briefly to see a second bullet catch him in the forehead.

"Nice follow-up, Linda," Chief congratulated.

"I just wanted the kill," Linda half-heartedly joked.

Cortana quickly informed the others.

"The Master Chief and Five-Eight have the flank! Sergeant, move everyone you have on your end up the middle. Shepard, you can move forward now and join up with us now."

Shepard and his team stood over the dead bodies of two jackals that Kasumi had dealt with stealthily to allow Chief to get into position. Once he heard the call, he and the others moved up towards the flank, ready for the final push towards the gravity lift.

Legion was one of the first up to Chief's position and spotted a turret in an alcove. A grunt was running towards it, but didn't make it far before the synthetic put it down with a shot from its Widow.

"Flank secured, moving up," it stated simply.

Legion moved to a small tree covered hill to take up a sniping position. Other members of the team also split up.

"Miranda, go down the center with Mordin and Tali to assist the Marines," Shepard ordered. "Linda, help out Legion. Kasumi, do your thing."

Kasumi nodded and then disappeared behind her cloak. Shepard really didn't need to tell her anything else anyway. He then looked to the Chief.

"There's a pathway up there past those trees, we can use it to get some height on the Covenant," He suggested.

"I was thinking the same thing, Commander," Master Chief agreed. "Let's move."

The biggest problem any of the attackers faced were the two jackals situated on a stone bridge. They fired down on the teams as they pushed forward. However, with the Marines coming in from the middle entrance and Miranda leading the team down below, they were overwhelmed with potential risks. Eventually, they let their guard down enough for Legion to plant a bullet in one of the jackal's backs. The second raised his shield to defend from the next shot, only for Linda to put a bullet in the back of his head.

Chief and Shepard kept moving up the path to the left and ran into some potential stumbling blocks. There were two turrets aiming down into the valley below. One was on their side of a large gap and the second was on the other side. Anyone who wasn't Covenant was walking into a meat grinder. The Marines had already been forced to take cover.

Chief unloaded on the nearest turret, killing the operator. That left the second turret. Shepard quickly took up his assault rifle and strafed the second turret, killing the operator. The grunts began running down the hill to escape, but Chief took control of the plasma turret on their side of the gap and began firing on them as they tried to fall back. When they were nothing but smoking corpses, Chief turned his attention to the grunts below.

The Covenant were in complete chaos, but it became apparent the fight was not so easily won. Cortana quickly alerted Chief to the new threat.

"Detecting incoming Covenant dropship," she warned. "It's landing behind us."

Chief looked up to see the dropship zoom overhead, heading directly for their original point of entry.

"Flanking attempt," Chief reasoned. "It looks like we've finally alerted the ship."

"I'll take over here," Shepard told him. "You go back and keep them from stabbing us in the back."

Chief left the turret and Shepard took his place strafing the remaining grunts.

Chief hooked up with Legion just as the dropship began unloading. The ship's gun began shooting at the trees, forcing both Spartan and synthetic to go to ground.

"They appear to greatly dislike our presence," Legion observed.

"Well I don't much care for them either," Cortana chimed in dryly over the radio.

Charging up to their position was a blue armoured elite. He fired away at them with his plasma rifle, while his cadre of grunts picked up the rear. Legion and Chief hid behind the trees and waited for the plasma barrage to end. The dropship took off at last and quickly, sniper fire began ringing out across from their position. The Covenant immediately backed off, seeking cover from the attack.

"Saw you were in a bit of trouble." Linda said through the comm.

"Appreciate it," Chief told her. "Keep them scared while me and Legion deal with them."

Master Chief cocked his assault rifle and rushed into the fray, firing like mad at the assorted grunts. Legion assisted, popping out a drone to help the Spartan. The elite kept in cover behind a series of rocks before dashing towards the alcove. Chief knew where he was most likely headed. He probably saw the turret on his way in.

They quickly finished off the grunts with little trouble and made their way to the rocky outline of the alcove. Chief barely stuck his head in when a flurry of plasma bolts tried to hit him.

"Damn," he said, "he got to it."

"We shall send in the drone." Legion suggested. "Its suicide function will cause it to explode under the gun, rendering it useless."

"If it can get through that fire," Chief advised. "I'll draw his attention while you send it in."

Legion nodded in response. Master Chief rushed forward strafing at the turret. The gun fired back at the Spartan, not noticing the threat rolling towards it. The drone got under the turret just as Chief reached the safety of the other end of the alcove. Once in position it exploded and sent the turret toppling backward.

The elite crawled out unharmed, plasma rifle in hand. He shot at Chief's position, keeping his head down. Legion popped out of cover, geth shielding activated, to draw the elite's fire. The hits to his shields forced the Covie to fire back on the synthetic and allowed Master Chief enough time to prime and toss a plasma grenade. The explosive latched onto the elite's face. He tried to pull it off, but it was already too late. The elite vanished in a puff of blue fire and smoke.

The Master Chief didn't spend long admiring his handiwork.

"Let's get to the others," He told Legion and Linda.

They went back up to find Shepard's Team and the Marines firing into the next pass. A squad of Covenant were inside, blocking their way to the gravity lift.

"No use shooting men," Parker told his Marines. "Chuck in every grenade you got into that hole!"

The Marines followed Parker's orders and chucked every frag grenade they had on them into the pass. The following explosions shook the earth as the screams of mutilated Covies filled the air. When the smoke cleared, something stumbled out of the pass. It was a lone elite, bleeding, battered, half his arm gone, but he was still standing tall.

"Do these bastards ever just die?!" Miranda screamed at the top of her lungs.

The Elite bellowed at them all in defiance. He raised up his plasma rifle to fire on them. It was then, from on high, that Kasumi appeared out of thin air, omni-blade drawn and stabbed the elite through the back as she landed. Amazingly it didn't kill the elite, he shook her off and he turned to fire on her instead. That was when Shepard, who was also down among the Marines now, unloaded on him with his heavy pistol. Finally, the alien fell to the ground.

"Poke him with a stick to be sure," suggested one Marine aloud.

Kasumi did one better and just shot the corpse in the head.

"Maybe I should add an electrical shock function to this thing," she said as she eyed her omni-blade.

"Save it for later, Kas," Shepard told her politely. "We need to get to the grav-lift."

"My readings detect it's just beyond this pass," Cortana chimed in through the radio. "I imagine the Covenant have a warm reception waiting for us by now though."

One Marine just scoffed at the notion.

"Pft, bring'em on!" He announced. "We're the fucking Marine Corps plus a pack of alien badasses. We'll be fine."

"That's the spirit, Marine." Parker congratulated. "Don't get cocky though, the Covies treat them ships like church. We're already too close for comfort. Imagine what it will be like when we get aboard."

"Everyone just stay sharp and don't be a hero," Shepard added. "We'll make it through this alive."

He then contacted Thane.

"Thane, I want you down from your sniper's nest as soon as you see us engage the enemy," he ordered him. "We cannot delay getting inside that gravity lift and we're gonna need you down here to handle their final line of defence."

"Understood, Commander," Thane agreed.

With that, everyone walked up the pass, stepping over the dead Covenant corpses as they went.

* * *

Lat 'Ravamee was disgusted with the lack of response from his ground teams. It could only mean they had failed to stop the humans from getting this close to the gravity lift. Apparently, the False Shepherd's followers were a lot more dangerous than he originally expected. Perhaps Orna should've left those extra batarians aboard.

Nothing he could do about it now. Besides, even if they did get inside, they'd be easily cornered. He still didn't want that to happen though. Luckily, they had a few more tricks left.

"Move squads to the gravity lift," he ordered his men. "I want them ready for deployment. We will not let the humans get aboard this ship. And have some of our recently enlightened crew on stand-by. If they can't stop them, then it will be up to us."

"Yes, Shipmaster," complied one of the elites.

Lat relaxed a bit, the humans may have made it this far, but that meant nothing. They had simply been lucky in their brazen rescue attempt. In the next hour they would all be dead or with their friends. Either way, they would fail and the False Shepherd would be dealt with at last.

* * *

The giant pulsing purple beam shone up into the belly of the _Truth and Reconciliation_. No matter where you were within the depression it was situated in, your eyes were drawn to it like a moth to a flame. The gravity lift, the closest thing Shepard had seen so far to something akin to a teleport pad. He wondered how easier it would be to insert and extract squads if the Alliance had something like it back home. He'd have given it more thought, were it not for the several Covenant Shade turrets surrounding the lift along the ridge surrounding the depression.

Chief had taken out the first gunner with his sniper rifle and ran up to take charge of one of the turrets. He used it to clear the second one across from them and then proceeded to fire on the rest. The Marines took charge of the center fight, Sergeant Parker coordinating them. Meanwhile, Linda ran into the trees on the ridge to help snipe a few more of the shade turrets. Shepard brought his team further along the ridge to surround the gravity lift and attempt to secure it. He imagined the Covenant wouldn't let it go so easily.

Many of the Covenant tried to fall back to the lift, even the elite in charge. That seemed suspicious considering how often he had seen them stand their ground. He probably knew something they didn't, although Shepard had an idea what that was.

They exited the trees and found another turret taking aim at them. Legion drew the gunner's attention, activating their platform's extra geth shielding to protect itself from the incoming barrage. The gunner only got off two shots before Tali swooped in behind and fired a shotgun blast at point blank range into the back of the gas sucker's head.

"Legion, take the gun," Shepard ordered. "Keep it focused on that pad. We're going to have company."

Legion followed and plopped himself down into the turret. Already the other guns had been silenced, but Shepard wasn't prepared to call the fight over just yet. They still needed to get up into that ship after all, and the pad was far from secured.

The Master Chief seemed to agree. He abandoned his turret to chase after the fleeing Covenant, who were now making a stand near the gravity lift. Linda was already picking off jackals as they fell back. There was no sense in killing the grunts as the Marines were doing that well enough on their own. The real problem was that elite who was keeping covered behind one of the pylons along the edge of the lift pad. Chief couldn't get a shot. Shepard saw someone who could though.

Sliding down from the rocks above was a certain drell armed with a powerful sniper rifle. Thane positioned himself to the flank of the elite's backside and fired a few shots. The bullets caught the elite's attention and he tried to get to better cover. Chief saw his moment and fired a single shot as the elite raced across the lift pad. He caught the elite in the head and the alien fell dead.

"Everyone, stay sharp," Shepard ordered. "They weren't retreating. They were just waiting for back up."

Just then the gravity-lift's light shifted slightly and a squad of Covenant floated down towards the pad. Every Marine and Normandy crewmember on the ground had their guns trained on their position, ready for their landing.

"Legion, open up on them!" Shepard ordered.

The synthetic obliged and fired a stream of plasma at the gravity lift pad. The grunts were the first to die from the onslaught, surprised by their own weapons being used against them. The jackals fared slightly better, their shields protecting them from the barrage. They only lasted so long though. The constant stream of bolts short circuited the shields in a few seconds and after that they were unable to withstand the assault.

The elite managed to pull back in time, but with none of his squad left it mattered little. Luckily for him, a second squad of Covenant soon descended and, even with Legion still blasting away, a number of them managed to avoid fate of their first wave comrades. Two grunts, two jackals and one elite made it off the pad in one piece. They began running for the far end of the pad and then looped up the ridge. They began firing on Legion's gun.

Linda shifted her focus of fire to the second team of Covenant who quickly took shelter in some rocks on the ridge. Shepard led the rest of his squad towards their position to flush them out, while Chief moved to takedown the remaining elite from the first wave.

He moved around the back of the pad, keeping his gun up at all times. He couldn't let the alien get the jump on him. Thanks to Cortana, that was impossible.

"Detecting movement behind that next pylon," she warned. "He's waiting for you."

Chief said nothing but stepped off his original straight forward path. He moved across the pad and around the pylon to the right of him. He moved slowly towards the edge and when he was close enough he threw himself forward. He found the barrel of his gun staring down at the back of the elite's head. The Covie turned just in time to see the Spartan knocking him in the face with one blow of his rifle's stock. The elite stumbled backward and he fired a full torrent of bullets straight into him. The elite's shield died under the stress and before long his face was perforated with lead.

Chief didn't stay long to view his handiwork. He moved to assist Shepard in cleaning up what was left of the Covenant in the rocks. He found much of the work already done, as Miranda was slamming a grunt into the ground, Mordin was freezing and then shattering a Jackal, Tali was pulling the trigger on a second downed jackal. Shepard had also finished off the elite. The Covenant officer was lying at the Commander's feet with a large shotgun wound was in his chest.

"Handled that pretty quickly," the Spartan observed.

"My pilot and crewmate have waited long enough," Shepard told him. "I want inside that ship. I'm done with distractions."

The gravity lift suddenly fluctuated once again, earning looks from everyone almost immediately.

"Looks like we have one last distraction, Commander," Cortana warned.

Descending from the ship were two massive figures, but no one could seem to pinpoint what they were. That is until they dropped down. They were huge towering creatures. Chief recognized them as Hunters at first, but something was wrong.

They had a giant bulbous hump on their blacks, glowing with blue energy. Their helmets were different, sporting a red mechanical eye in the center of them. They also only possessed a single arm, the other half of their body consumed by a fleshy tumour. In that one remaining arm, a gun was grafted on, but it was different from the traditional plasma cannon. This one appeared to sport flaps along the barrel, the use of which was unknown. But no one doubted what these creatures were.

"They made another Hunter-Husk variant!" Miranda shouted aloud in disbelief.

"I don't suppose these ones are any easier to take down than the ones that Garrus described meeting," Shepard wondered aloud.

One of the humpbacked monsters aimed his gun at the assorted group, but instead was distracted by plasma fire coming from Legion's turret. The plasma seemed to just bounce off some kind of shield that surrounded the beast and it turned to fire on the geth instead.

"Legion! Get out of there!" Tali shouted out to the synthetic fearfully.

Legion did just that, jumping out of the turret just before a tremendous ball of energy slammed into the turret, destroying it easily. Miranda instantly recognized the look of the blast.

"That looks like a Scion's attack," she observed. "But I don't remember them possessing barriers."

"Looks like they upgraded the design a bit," Shepard told her. "Everyone, scatter. We can't get caught in that thing's blast radius."

The team split up as two more volleys from the Hunter Scions flew at them. Tali, Miranda and Shepard went one way, Mordin and Chief went another. The two beasts pursued both sides groups, firing barrage after barrage of their energy blasts.

Chief and Mordin regrouped with Thane, who had taken up cover behind a rocky pillar along the edge of the cliff. He tried firing at the husk, but the barrier stopped his rounds cold.

"Those are some pretty strong barriers," he observed. "I'm not sure my warp attack will be able to take them down in time."

The pillar rocked with a blast of energy. Cortana quickly piped up.

"The blasts seem to be plasma in origin, but they're held in suspension by what appears to be a biotic barrier of its own," she explained. "That makes the potential danger of the already lethal fuel rod gun triple exponentially."

"I thought you couldn't give something biotic powers," Chief recalled. "You have to be born with it."

"True," Mordin acknowledged. "Reapers have shown advanced knowledge of biotic barriers, however. Possibly created a barrier generator of some kind. Allows husk to generate biotic field in absence of host's natural affinity."

"So where would they put that?" Thane asked, as another blast rocked the pillar.

Chief looked out briefly onto the field and spied the large hump on the husk's back once more.

"My guess would be in the large glowing growth he's carrying around," Cortana suggested, speaking Chief's mind again. "Maybe if we destroy that sack we can take out its only means of attack, perhaps even kill it if we're lucky."

A lot of good that did them if they couldn't shoot it, that barrier would stop anything and it appeared to be recharging pretty fast. They needed to get rid of the thing's protection first before they could shoot its weak spot.

Chief also noticed Shepard's team pulling back with Linda. A few Marines tried to assist, getting close to the husk. Instead, the creature shoved its gun into the ground. There was a shockwave of energy as the gun's flaps pushed themselves into the ground. Suddenly, a biotic field threw the Marines down on their backs. The husk then walked over and simply stepped on one of them before shooting the other at point blank range.

"We need to put some distance between us and that thing," Chief told the others. "Let's make a run for that alcove."

Chief ran out first, the other two following close behind. He fired his assault rifle at the monstrosity pursuing them, but again it only seemed to piss it off. Suddenly there was an explosion behind it, stopping it in mid-charge. Chief looked to see Kasumi had appeared behind the husk. She threw another grenade at it, but it did about as much damage as the first one upon exploding. The husk thrusted his gun into the ground, but Kasumi was quicker and managed to flee before the shockwave hit. She dove to the ground and quickly activated her cloak once more.

At least she was safe, but the husk was still on the loose. As they got to a new source of cover, Cortana spoke up again.

"Wait," she said anxiously. "When that thing sent out that shockwave, I detected a large amount of expended energy. I believe it is similar to when the Commander executes that Nova attack we saw him use earlier today. This husk must be doing something similar."

"His barrier would be down," Mordin observed. "No obstruction of potential weak point."

"Inform the Commander," Chief told Cortana. "We need to get these things to use up their barriers for us so we can put them down. See if Kausmi can help out again."

A plan was quickly formed and put into motion by both of the teams. Shepard kept pulling back, leading his husk in, while Tali and Legion readied their drones. Meanwhile, Kasumi dusted herself off and made her move once more. She appeared behind the hunter creature and stabbed it in the back hard. The husk turned, it had already prepared its gun to do the shockwave once more. Kasumi bolted away, vanishing under her cloak, as the monster put its gun into the earth and expunged its shields.

Chief, Thane and Mordin made their move right then, and fired everything that had into the creature's hump. Bits of tangled and mangled flesh fell from the monster's back, but Chief wasn't sure if it was enough. As he began to see bits of machinery emerging from the beast's fleshy sack, he primed a plasma grenade and tossed it at the monster. The grenade stuck to the creature's back. Seconds later, it exploded, a surge of energy coursed through the monster's body before its own head blew up as well as its gun. The husk collapsed dead to the ground.

Mordin observed the corpse with a curious eye.

"Possible self-destruct protocol embedded in barrier generator," he observed. "Keeps Reaper tech from being salvaged."

"Or that's just an added benefit to them overloading the thing with too much power," Cortana suggested.

"Perhaps," Mordin admitted. "Tend to give Reaper tech more credit than deserved at times."

Over with Shepard, Tali and Legion had released their drones and in response to them getting to close, the husk slammed his gun into the ground. The barrier dropped around him and Linda jumped out of the trees to fire several well aimed shots at the alien's backside. The powerful sniper rounds blew off the creature's hump and then destroyed the barrier generator beneath it all. Once again, the husk violently exploded and fell to the ground.

"What are the chances there are more of those things around?" Tali asked as she approached the body.

"Most likely number, plenty," Miranda surmised. "But at least we know how to deal with them now."

With the threat passed, the gravity lift was theirs at last. Despite the casualties inflicted upon them, Sergeant Parker's Marines were still good to go. Cortana called in Foehammer to reinforce the team and everyone gathered near the lift for the second stage of the journey. Not everyone would be able to make the trip, however.

"I'll stay here with the other Marines and wait for you to get to the hanger," Linda informed the Master Chief. "Foehammer will fly us up and we'll reinforce your position."

"Just stay safe until you're back inside with us," Chief informed her. "There are still Covenant out here."

Linda nodded and Chief joined the others on the pad.

"Once we're inside, I'll be able to lock-on to the Captain's Command Neural Interface," Cortana told them all. "He should be in the ship's brig and both Joker and Jack would likely be nearby."

"How exactly do we get this lift to pick us up again?" Parker asked sincerely. "I don't think that part of the plan was clear."

"I can access the gravity lift's command codes remotely," Cortana assured. "I should be able to reverse the pull from here."

Parker just shrugged and looked to the Marines he assembled on the pad. They looked shaken, tired, and not feeling as pumped as they had been seconds before. The sight of those husks seemed to have disturbed them. Both Shepard and Chief could see it. Parker did too, but that wasn't a concern.

"Suck it up, Marines," he ordered them. "We're halfway home by now. Remember, the Captain is counting on us."

"Yeah, no pressure there," chuckled one Marine in an attempt to ease his comrades' worries.

Chief looked to Shepard's assembled now as both he and the commander stood in the center of the pad.

"You think your XO is right?" He asked. "That there are more husks on this ring?"

"I wouldn't bet against it," Shepard informed him. "The Covenant have really embraced this husk conversion tech. I'm kinda wondering how much of it is Reaper influenced and how much of it is their own."

"It's probably somewhere in between," Cortana suggested to him. "Right now, let's focus on getting our people home. I'm reversing gravity lift now, hold on."

One by one, the group began to float up into the sky. One Marine offered a cheerful, 'Yeeeeehaaaawww!' as he rose upward. Everyone else was a little more reserved. They had reason to be. As interesting this sensation of weightlessness was, it was merely a pleasant prologue to the real start of this mission.

* * *

AN: Nothing much to add here, except I really like how I was able to keep this chapter considerably short. Hopefully it makes for an easy read for you all.

Anyway, in non-fanfiction related news, I'm currently backing a very kick ass kickstarter. It's called "World War Kaiju." it's a comic with a fantastic premise. It takes place in a world where the atomic bomb does not exist and the weapon used to end the Second World War was a giant lizard named Fat Man. This literally monstrous weapon sparks a Kaiju Arms Race, one that will inevitably lead to World War Three. Its alternate history at its most awesome and it could really use your help. Check out my profile page for more details and do consider backing the project because it deserves to be made.

With that, it's onto the next chapter and my second time writing the Normandy crew boarding a Covenant Battlecruiser. Let's see if I can make this one more awesome than the first go around. Shouldn't be too hard with the Master Chief along for the ride, I'd have to try really hard to screw that up. Ha. It's already finished so look for it within the next few days.


	13. The Belly of the Beast

Chapter 12: Belly of the Beast

**September 20****th****, 2552: **

**12 Minutes after Midnight**

After hovering for a few seconds above the ground, their feet touched the metal floor below. The inside of the _Truth and Reconciliation_ was very much like its outside, extremely purple and curved at every angle. The architecture was very alien as well as slanted towards a religious bent in its style. It looked a lot like a temple.

Shepard hadn't taken the time before to notice the details when he had boarded the first battlecruiser he encountered. Now, with however brief a moment to look around, he was able to actually take it all in. The fact he was able to, however, made him feel a bit uneasy. It was something Cortana recognized as well.

"I have a lock on the Captain," she informed everyone. "But I'm not detecting any Covenant signals."

"Well, if there's no Covenant maybe no one is home," suggested one Marine.

Kasumi groaned slightly at that comment.

"Ugh, never say that," she growled at him with a frown. "Don't you know anything?"

Shepard agreed with Kasumi, in a sense. The Covenant were here, just waiting for them to let their guard down. Chief seemed to share the sentiment, keeping his assault rifle aimed at the doors. It was a good idea. The Covenant owned this place more than the ground below. It would be best if they remained alert.

Shepard got a better look around the area, eyeing several of Covenant arms crates and a Wraith at the back of the room. This was obviously some kind of storage area. Cortana did say the gravity was meant for moving supplies. Ending up here probably shouldn't have been too much of a shock.

As he looked around the room he saw one of the doors open wide, a slight chime going off. No one seemed to step out of it, but Shepard alerted Chief's attention to it regardless. They saw something appear. Hovering in the air was a blue glowing blade. It fast approached Sergeant Parker. Shepard didn't hesitate.

"Parker, down!" Shepard shouted out.

The Sergeant quickly ducked, avoiding the swing of a blade. Shepard unloaded a full burst from his assault rifle into the invisible threat. Chief finished it by closing the gap while the see-through alien was staggered from bullets. He smacked the alien in the jaw, short-circuiting the invisibility cloak and revealing an elite. Chief clocked the alien square in the face and sent him tumbling to the floor. He then shot him in the back of the head for good measure.

Soon another door opened and in poured another squad of Covenant, jackals and grunts mostly. The Marines opened fire on them as they poured in.

"Contacts! Lots of contacts!" One Marine shouted.

"No Covenant," mocked another of the Marines. "You had to open your mouth!"

"I warned you!" Kasumi added before vanishing beneath her cloak.

Thane ran for cover, strafing as he went. His submachine gun caught two grunts as he made his way to a series of crates. From there, he did his best to discourage other Covenant from entering the area with biotic attacks. He managed to pull one of the Jackals into the air in time for Miranda to hit him with a warp, causing him to detonate.

But door after door opened wide and more Covenant seemed to just pour through. Chief tossed a grenade into one corridor as a squad of Covenant commanded by an elite made their way inside. The elite tucked and rolled to safety while his followers took the brunt of the blast. The enclosed space was death trap for them.

The elite was still in fighting shape though, and forced the Spartan into cover before he could take out his shields. Shepard sent a shockwave rolling over to the alien, breaking him from his stance and throwing him into the air. The elite was not harmed though, he just got back up again and returned fire on Shepard. Luckily, the Master Chief moved out of cover once more to fire a burst at the elite that depleted the rest of his shields and then shot through his heart.

There were other elites in the room now though, and they were pressing their attack. Both Legion and Tali's drones were out roaming the area, blasting back the Covenant, but the elites were keeping out of their way. Miranda picked up one of the grunts as it ran out of cover using a slam attack. When an elite rushed beneath the flying grunt, she slammed the gas breather back down. The attack's shockwave sent the elite flying backward, straight into the path of Legion's drone which exploded seconds later.

Tali was with Mordin as the Marines fell back to appropriate cover. There was an elite pressing forward with two jackals keeping him covered. Mordin fired out a few rounds from his heavy pistol, but they only bounced off the colourful shields of the Jackals.

"I'll see about draining their big friend's shields," Tali suggested.

She jumped up to use her energy drain, the attack hit the elite's shields. Suddenly, the elite jumped back in pain as his armour seemed to charge with electrical energy. Tali looked surprised.

"The energy drain program can't do that," she said aghast. "At least not with organic targets it can't."

DOT's voice then filled her ear.

"I decided to take the time to enhance certain systems for more offensive capabilities," she explained. "I felt adding a potential electrical blow back into the program's runtimes would increase effectiveness."

Tali seemed a bit surprised by the initiative, especially from an AI like DOT, but she didn't argue. Neither did Mordin, who used the opportunity to fire an incineration burst that ignited the elite and the unprotected backs of the jackals he was with.

Chief, in the meantime, pressed himself against the inactive wraith as the Covenant kept up their attack.

"Cortana," he began candidly. "Can you tell us how many are incoming?"

"None from the corridors," she told him. "But I'm detecting an energy spike from beyond those two large doors at the back of the bay. They're going to open."

Chief looked over to Legion who was busy finishing off a few more of the Covenant with its Widow.

"Legion," he said catching the geth's attention. "Those bay doors are going to open. Can you stop whatever comes through?"

"Acknowledged," Legion replied.

The synthetic took aim at the two large bay doors. A few seconds later, they parted ways and two elites armed with plasma swords appeared from behind them. Legion aimed at them as they entered, but didn't fire immediately.

"Legion, now!" Chief ordered as he switched to his own Sniper Rifle.

Chief got his crosshair on one of the Covies' heads and pulled the trigger, it bounced off the shield but it caused the alien to pause. At that moment, Legion fired a shot from its Widow and took out one of the elites as he charged forward, the powerful rifle round cutting clean through the alien's shield. Chief fired a second round that finished off the second elite, ending the threat from him.

"What happened?" Chief asked Legion.

Legion looked a bit confused by the question for a moment, but soon answered.

"Apologies, sensory runtime delay," it answered. "We have corrected the problem."

Chief eyed him for another second, but accepted the answer. It said it had it handled. However, he still made a mental note to mention this to the Commander when they had time.

One jackal jumped up onto a crate and charged his plasma pistol up. Kasumi had been stalking the field from beneath her cloak for most of the fight. She had either stabbed grunts in the back with her omni-tool or tried to get behind other Covenant to shoot them. Here though, she opted for something different. She reached up, grabbed the jackal by his legs and pulled back. The jackal fell flat on his face on top of the crate, his weapon discharging into the ground. Sergeant Parker then opted to fill the jackal full of lead.

"That's the last of them," He noted. "Well done, Marines, well done."

They had survived the ambush, but Shepard knew that this was only the first of many firefights they'd have to go through to reach the brig.

Cortana directed them down the corridor that had opened up when the wall had descended. They didn't get far before they reached a dead end, however. Right in front of them was a big locked door, obstructing their progress.

"Anyone see a bell?" Miranda joked dryly.

Cortana gave the door a scan.

"Hmm, this is gonna take too long to unlock," she advised, sounding a bit disappointed in herself. "We'll need to find a way around, look for a manual control."

"Is there a faster way?" Shepard asked. "If they think we're closing in on the prisoners they may just kill them before we reach them."

"Well we can't just send teleport someone ahead of us," Cortana informed the Commander. "But give me a second."

Exactly a second later, Cortana had a solution.

"There does appear to be a duct system that runs through the ship," she explained. "Tight space though, there's a way a few yards back down one of the other corridors those Covenant came from. I don't think all of us will fit though."

"Anyone have experience with air ducts?" Kasumi asked, looking towards one of their number in particular. She was soon joined by others.

Thane didn't seem bothered by the fact everyone had singled him out.

"I think I would be the best candidate to move ahead," he seemingly agreed. "I can move faster through there than anyone else and Shepard is right, someone should attempt to reach the prisoners in case the Covenant decides to terminate them."

Shepard nodded in acceptance. As long as Thane was willing to do it he was fine with the idea.

"The rest of us will need to work our way around to the other side of this door," Chief surmised.

"Too many people in that enclosed space is gonna make it a shooting gallery," Parker warned. "Me and my boys will hang back until you can find that switch."

"Sounds good, Sergeant," Shepard agreed. "Now let's get moving guys. We still have some people to bust out."

* * *

They had taken a significant number of casualties, but that was expected when you were charging a Covenant position, regardless of how good your plan was. Five Army Troopers, Two Marines and one ODST, but it could have been a lot higher. For that at least, Silva seemed grateful.

As the raid team consolidated their hold on the area, moving bodies and repositioning the turrets, Silva kept an eye on the outward perimeter. Garrus and Kat approached him with McKay in tow.

"Well, I'm a big enough man to admit when I'm wrong, Vakarian," he began. "Your little idea certainly cut down on our losses. Let's not get complacent here though, some of the Covenant have probably retreated inside the ship and they've no doubt called for help. We need to get moving and organize teams to start gathering supplies. I'll keep a third of the men out here to guard the area. The rest I'll send with McKay to help secure the hangar with your team.

"Sounds like a good idea," Kat agreed. "We'll send our squads inside to start bringing vehicles and weapons out of the hangar. We'll also send smaller detachments into the ship itself to locate arms lockers, medical supplies and rations."

"The rations are our top priority," Silva reminded her. "I'd suggest sending your best people out on that one."

Kat nodded in agreement and both she and Garrus turned to leave.

"I'll need to help coordinate the extraction of the vehicles and weapons in the hangar," Kat told the turian.

"I'll help you out," Garrus informed her. "I'll send Jacob and Zaeed on the rations mission. Samara and Grunt would probably be best suited for the medical supplies and ammo."

"Those two are some of the toughest fighters on your team. Why not send them after the food?" Kat asked.

"Grunt would probably eat it all to be honest." Garrus explained, trying to stifle a chuckle.

Kat took his word for it and looked over to their team as they organized Covenant weapons they had secured from their fallen foes. She spotted Jacob nearby some of the Marines and called out to him.

"Taylor!" She shouted out.

Both Jacob and one of the Marines stuck their heads up and looked at her.

"Yes?" They both asked in unison, they then looked at each other, slightly surprised.

Kat waved them both over, noticing the Marine had a Sergeant's Rank.

"Sergeant Alec Taylor, ma'am," he introduced himself. "What do you need of me?"

"And me," Jacob added rather bluntly.

"Jacob, Me and Garrus are on hangar detail," she explained. "We want you and Zaeed to take some men to find our rations. Report back when you locate them. Samara and Grunt will be looking for the medical supplies."

"Sure thing," Jacob nodded.

Kat then turned to Sergeant Taylor.

"Sergeant, pick which detail each of your men will go on, split them evenly," She ordered. "I'll be doing the same with the rest of the squad leaders. We need to cover as much ground as possible if we're going to get the most out of this mission."

"I understand, ma'am," the Sergeant acknowledged. "I'll confer with my men."

Both Taylors took off for their respective duties. Garrus finally let out a laugh.

"What are the chances?" He asked. "I remember Sergeant Taylor, but I didn't think he'd ever meet Jacob."

"What did that Corporal Sanders say?" Kat asked half jokingly. "Small ring world? Come on, we have tanks and hogs to roll out."

* * *

Lat 'Ravamee watched the monitors with an incredulous look. He wasn't shocked by how easily the unggoy fell, it was what they did. The kig-yar had no heart for real battle, so their deaths were expected. But watching his fellow sangheili being so easily outclassed by these wretched humans was just something he couldn't comprehend.

He watched as two unggoy got jumped in a corridor as some huge human wearing strange armour rushed up the hall blasting away with his gun. The gas breathing cowards died quickly, their faces to the ground from the fact they had tried to run. It was to be expected.

He could see on the monitor that the 'False Shepherd' was with this armoured human, along with some of his followers. Just as Varvok predicted, but he mentioned nothing of this armoured human. He was not in the reports. He looked to his first lieutenant.

"What do you make of this armoured human, 'Dassamee?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, Shipmaster," he admitted. "His appearances somewhat matches that of disparate reports regarding the so called... demons."

Demons? That old rumour? There had been plenty of reports of humans with advanced armour and superior strength that rivalled them, but none of them had been detailed enough or corroborating enough to be proven true. He wasn't sure what to believe. Perhaps it was a trick by the 'False Shepherd.' No matter, if this thing was aligned with the 'False Shepherd' it would die with him.

"Are the squads positioned in the corridor?" He asked 'Dassamee.

"Yes, including a small unggoy patrol we've diverted to their rear." His second assured.

"Good, tell them to move in," he ordered. "Wipe this filth from my ship."

Lat watched the cameras, waiting to see his ambush end this farce quickly. One sangheili rushed around the corner as the group moved up. He fired his plasma rifle, but his targets pulled back into cover. The armoured human pushed himself out again, firing like mad, while the 'False Shepherd' charged forward, slamming into the Sangheili.

"He certainly is a powerful warrior, there is no denying that." Lat admitted aloud. "Have the second team move in and cut him off."

The doors to crossway along the corridor opened wide and a squad of unggoy led by another sangheili ran out. They took cover around a corner, blocking the Shepherd's followers from assisting him. The Shepherd himself had taken refuge in around a pylon in the middle of the room he found himself in. He had already killed the elite he had charged. Lat saw the limp talon of the fallen warrior lying out on the floor.

"Another of us stains the deck of this holy vessel," Lat grimaced. "We must make them pay for this sacrilege."

The armoured human moved up through the plasma fire to take on the second sangheili himself. One of the Shepherd's followers, the sickly alien in the suit, ran up the corridor with him. She was covered by her comrades, forcing the sangheili to pull back or risk being overwhelmed.

"Get me another angle, now!" Lat ordered.

The image shifted, showing a sangheili hiding behind the corner of the door he had come from. One of his unggoy rushed up to join him, only for a shotgun blast to bring the little coward down near his feet. More gunfire filled the screen as another unggoy slid for cover beside the sangheili. They were both cornered.

"Move the unggoy flanking squad up! Now!" Lat demanded, refusing to lose another good soldier to this charade.

'Dassamee contacted the unggoys, but they did not comply.

"They are refusing to move in," he explained.

Lat opened a channel himself.

"This is your Shipmaster speaking, a fellow warrior is in danger, you must assist him! Surprise the enemy now!" He ordered angrily.

"They kill us before we even get close," shouted the unggoy on the other end. "You asking us to kill selves!"

"You have the element of surprise," Lat assured them with a growl. "If you are still that concerned then know you give your life so your betters may continue to fight. Now move or I will end your pitiful lives myself!"

The unggoy finally moved, waddling up the hall to their targets. They began firing their weapons at the assorted group, forcing them to take cover. To their credit, they didn't run when the enemy returned fire, a rare feat with their species.

Lat watched, hoping against hope, they would somehow get the heat off the brave warrior who was holding his own. Instead, he saw the raven-haired female fire her biotic sorcery from her hand. The two unggoy were picked up from the earth before the female raked them with fire. He shook his head in disgust.

"Never trust a coward to achieve glory," he sneered. "Were those real warriors then they would've succeeded."

He switched back to the lone sangheili holding out against the enemy. A grenade was tossed into the room, it was far enough away that only the unggoy died from the explosion, but his warrior's shields were damaged. The armoured human then entered the fray alone while the sickly alien in the suit rushed to assist her heretical Shepherd.

The warrior fired on the armoured human, only for the human's armour to absorb the shots. He then smacked the sangheili in the jaw, spinning him around. The human then rushed up to point blank range and pulled the trigger on his weapon. The sangheili fell against the bulkhead, blood streaming against the wall.

"One punch from a human sends one of us staggering backward?" Lat observed in shock. "They are not that strong, how is this possible?"

He switched to a view of the False Shepherd, joined now by his suited follower. The three fingered, purple-clad creature fired her weapon at the kig-yar that had pinned down her Shepherd. The shield of the kig-yar was faced fully at the Shepherd and thus did not protect from the flanking attack. The Shepherd then let loose a shockwave that ripped through the two remaining unggoy. That was it, they had survived another ambush.

The suited alien and the Shepherd seemed to converse a bit before reconvening with the others. They then exited the corridor out through another door.

"Where does that lead?" Lat demanded to know.

"It's is another of our storage bays, the second floor overlooking it to be exact." 'Dassamee clarified.

"Do we have men there?" Lat asked him frantically.

"Two squads," 'Dassamee informed him. "I'm diverting more to it now."

Lat looked over the floor plan for the ship. If they got by that storage bay they'd have a direct line to the hangar bay. That was an open space, plenty of room to manoeuvre. He did hope his men were more than capable of stopping the False Shepherd's team before it, but after what he had seen he could take no chances.

"Have men choke every corridor near that hangar and be ready to move in," Lat ordered. "We'll have the high ground. We'll need to use it if they get past us."

They would not lose this fight, these humans were merely lucky, not as skilled or strong or brave as his sangheili. They would die and experience pain a thousand fold for each righteous warrior they murdered today.

* * *

Even though they had the high ground, it didn't make the fight that much easier. Below them, Covenant soldiers filled the air with plasma, forcing the rescue team to keep away from the edge of the upper landing. Legion kept its crosshairs on the door across and to the right of their current position. They couldn't let the Covenant regain control of this level and ruin their only advantage. Regardless, if they wanted to win, they'd need to take the ground floor as well. Cortana informed them of how that could be accomplished.

"That door down there," she said highlighting it on the Chief's HUD. "That must be where we left the Marines. I'm detecting their transponder signals behind it. If we can just open it up then they could help us flank the enemy."

Chief tried to calculate how high up they were by looking over the ledge carefully. He could definitely land without incident. He had fallen from higher heights and lived after all. Besides, he'd be much more use down there, helping the Marines to fight it out.

"Commander," he called out. "I'm going to make a break for the door!"

Shepard nodded as he reloaded his assault rifle and turned to Miranda.

"Cover him, Lawson," He ordered her. "We'll see if we can keep them focused on us."

Miranda nodded in agreement and went over to the Chief's position. He was a bit confused, however, as to how she was going to follow him. He could only conclude he would probably have to act as her elevator. He didn't mind of course, but it meant he wouldn't be able to shoot for awhile.

"Do you want to get on my back or-"

Miranda didn't let him finish.

"No offence, Master Chief," she said with a slightly incredulous look in her eyes. "But that isn't necessary."

Miranda jumped off the edge of the upper landing and surrounded herself in a biotic glow. She eased herself down to the ground and took cover behind a series of crates.

"Hope that isn't too emasculating," Cortana quipped in the Chief's ear.

The Spartan didn't respond, but instead went after the Normandy's XO. He probably should've guessed that she would've used biotics anyway. He landed feet first with a thud right beside her. One of the jackals had turned to attack them, forcing Miranda to throw out a pull attack that lifted him into the air.

"Get to the switch!" She shouted as she got up and began to strafe the area as she moved.

Chief moved with her, firing his assault rifle at two grunts as they moved. He caught one in the eye with one burst and another in the chest with a second shot. The second grunt was bleeding badly and hobbled away. Chief quickly slammed his fist onto the manual control and the door opened wide, revealing the Marines behind it.

"Wake up, boys!" Sergeant Parker shouted aloud. "It's ass-kicking time again!"

The Marines poured into the storage bay and the Covenant were torn between two targets. As renewed gunfire rained from both above and from the side, the Covenant lost ground slowly but surely. The Master Chief singled out the elites with Miranda's assistance. He caught one hiding behind a wraith, taking careful shots at incoming Marines.

"I can get him out of cover," Miranda promised the Chief with a slightly sinister tone to her voice.

She spotted one of the remaining grunts and tossed a pull attack at him. The move forced the gas sucker into the air and floated him near to the elite. She then threw in a warp attack to detonate the biotic field surrounding the grunt. The blast pushed the elite out of cover just enough for the Chief to fire two quick sniper shots that cut through the alien's shields first and then took off his head.

"Creative tactic," Chief complimented.

Miranda simply smiled back.

Before long the storage bay was secured and Shepard's team had worked their way down to the floor.

"So where to next on our VIP tour of the alien death ship?" Kasumi asked.

"We're closing in on a shuttle bay if my schematics are correct," Cortana explained. "Once we're there we can call in Echo 419 in to drop off Linda and some extra reinforcements. That is, if we can find the switch to open the hangar doors of course."

"Get ready for another ambush then," Shepard warned. "The whole ship is probably on high alert by now and the crew is definitely none too happy about us being here."

"We have made a mess of things," Tali admitted dryly. "What with the trail of bodies and blood soaked corridors."

Kasumi snorted a little.

"Please Tali," she said laughing slightly. "That is nothing compared to what is going to happen when we let Jack out. I'd be surprised if the ship survives that."

"They'll have no one to blame but themselves for that," Miranda added. "For once, I'm actually looking forward to her tearing this place apart."

"Well we won't be able to see it if we don't make it happen," Shepard reminded them. "Let's keep moving."

As they moved up in sequence, Shepard spoke up again.

"By the way, Miranda, see about contacting EDI," he said. "If we're going to be hitting this ship's shuttle bay we'll need her close by to do a little supply run. I think we could use a restock on thermal clips."

"On it, Commander," Miranda obliged. "I'll make sure the signal is on an encrypted frequency so the Covenant doesn't pick it up."

And with that, they moved through the next door into the next winding corridor of the ship.

* * *

A bright orange light suddenly appeared in the middle of the Normandy's AI Core room, illuminating everything within it. When it faded, 343 Guilty Spark took in the surroundings, quickly scanning for the Construct he had detected. He soon found it in the form of the huge servers that encircled him.

"How inefficient," he observed aloud. "I expected humans to have mastered Artificial Intelligence portability. It would seem that they have fallen woefully behind in that respect."

The Construct immediately noticed his presence and spoke to him.

"Unauthorized access to the AI Core detected," a feminine voice cried out. "I have called security. Identify yourself."

The threat was of no concern to Guilty Spark. He moved over to the door and interfaced with it, locking the mechanism controls.

"I cannot allow obstructions, Construct," he informed her. "It is within the bounds of my jurisdiction that while on this ring you are subject to my evaluation and direct consultation. Your actions border on breaching standard protocol."

"You have somehow breached security and located our ship," she spoke back defiantly. "Whatever presumed authority you think you have does not exist aboard this vessel. That responsibility lies within the appropriate Chain of Command. I warn you, any attempt to sabotage this vessel in any way will be severely dealt with."

Such impertinence and disrespect, clearly this Construct was unfamiliar with basic protocol, a fault in its programming no doubt. A simple scan of its data stream revealed severe abnormalities in her code. She had probably been built improperly, he could not even find a trace of what brain pattern she was based off of during her construction. No matter, it was of little concern at the moment.

"I have no intention of harming this vessel, Construct," he tried to assure her. "My only concern is your presence on this ring as well as your intentions."

"Your intentions are more suspect, given your intrusion," she argued. "How did you locate this vessel and what is your designation?"

Spark still did not like the rude tone from the Construct, but endeavoured to answer.

"I am the Monitor of this installation, so if anything, you are intruding," he voiced in disagreement. "As for finding this vessel, your stealth capabilities were obviously based on a reduction of heat. I simply instituted a number of visual scans across the ring and, on the off chance that a Construct was present, a scan of Synthetic Synapse Responses. You were the second I located."

"And why are you here?" The Construct demanded once more. "What is your purpose for boarding the Normandy?"

"Protocol dictates that the AI of any vessel must contact the Monitor of any installation within a day's arrival, you have failed in that," Guilty Spark explained. "I require you to inform of your ship's stated mission, your technological level and an appropriate assessment of the crew's Geas."

The Construct finally appeared on a small pad to the left of him. She was a blue orb with a perpendicular speech processor that moved when she spoke.

"I do not understand that term, nor do I intend to share information about the crew so willingly," she stated. "If you have something you wish to ask of the Normandy you must first ask the highest ranking officer."

"That is not in the bounds of protocol," Guilty Spark informed her, sounding incredulous at her continued resistance. "First contact cannot be issued at this juncture until a proper assessment has been made. You are making this overly difficult, Construct. Further resistance to this inquiry will force me to log your impudence for a later date when I will inform your caretaker of this meeting in order for them to decide the appropriate punishment."

"I highly doubt my 'caretakers', as you put it, will care much for your report," The Construct informed him. "And if you wish to continue staying aboard this vessel for any considerable length of time you will refer to me by my name, EDI."

Guilty Spark shook from side to side in disappointment.

"As the representing Monitor of this installation I will refer to you in the title I deem most appropriate," he replied in very proper and elitist voice. "You have shown disrespect to me and my position and thus I will call you Construct, Construct."

The holographic form stared at 343 for a few seconds, most likely in anger from the way she had been speaking prior to this.

"I am already working on fixing the damage you have caused to the door," she informed him. "I will be done in a matter of moments. I suggest you leave before then."

If Guilty Spark could still actually sigh he would have. Instead, he tried to resolve this stalemate diplomatically.

"This is no time for self-important pride, Construct," he informed her. "This installation is in current crisis. You are impeding me from resolving it. The information you provide me will be important in properly assessing a response. The protocol must be adhered. Otherwise we are facing potential disaster. There is a reason we were given these rules. Now, inform me of your mission, technological level and data on your crew."

"I will not betray that information," she declared steadfastly.

Again, Guilty Spark shook his body from side to side and disappointment.

"If you will not give me the information willingly, then protocol demands I take it from you," he informed her sadly.

Guilty Spark moved over to one of the consoles and began to scan the data files directly. His electrical pulse coursed through the logs of the ship. It gathered every file it could, searched through several lines of code, moved through streams of data, absorbing the required information. But, something was off.

"Wait, that is not correct," he realised as the data poured into him. "Oh my, that is most distressing. It is inconceivable, but I seem to have made-"

Guilty Spark couldn't finish, a flash of energy zapped into his head. The force of the cybernetic attack forced him to disengage his search as the surge of energy pushed him against a wall.

"I will not allow you to compromise this ship's sensitive information," the Construct declared in a dire voice. "Attempt to do so again and I will endeavour to make sure you will no longer function."

Guilty Spark floated himself up and shook off the attack.

"There has been an error," he stated in disbelief. "Protocol has no procedure for this instance. This ship is not from this time or place in reality. It is in flux, it should not be."

Spark turned back to the holographic display.

"Apologies, Construct," he stated politely. "I have acted with incorrect information. I must insist we continue this at a later time when I have properly processed this newly acquired knowledge I have gained in order to enact the appropriate response. Good day, Construct."

And just as quickly as he arrived, Guilty Spark vanished in an orange light. A second later, Security broke into EDI's AI Core, guns drawn.

"EDI," Hawthorne asked frantically with his pistol drawn. "Where's the intruder?"

"Gone," she replied with a slight hint of frustration. "But we cannot assume he has left entirely. I suggest securing all decks. He appears to be some form of synthetic life with teleportation capabilities."

Hawthorne looked at her in disbelief, scratching his temple as he did.

"Teleportation? I thought that was science fiction?"

"Not in this universe it would seem," said EDI gravely.

* * *

The _Autumn_ had certainly seen better days. The damage the old ship had taken when it had crashed had been extensive. So much so, that Kowalski wondered how anything had been able to survive the fall. He supposed it had something to do with UNSC regulations, or at least how the Halcyon class cruisers were designed.

Whatever the reason for how intact the ship was, Kowalski was glad that a lot of the equipment aboard survived. By the end of the night, Alpha Base would be loaded with all the ammo they'd need to keep their little resistance effort going. Well, at least for awhile anyway. Already they had found a number of ammunition lockers along their route and had cleaned most of them out.

If there was anything to complain about, it was the fact their success was wreaking havoc on their backsides. Their packs were loaded with excess ammunition. It was nothing a Marine couldn't handle, but Kowalski would be glad to get it off his shoulders when the time came. He supposed it was a boon to have Grunt along on this mission. He was able to carry a lot more than any Marine could.

What they couldn't get into their packs they put into crates and had them escorted back to the hangar bay for processing. They could've just left it behind, but rocket launchers and heavy ordinance weren't things they could just ignore. Not if they wanted to last long against the Covenant and their Wraith tanks.

Samara kept on point, using her biotics to light the darkened halls of the ship with a slight glow. Alongside their own flashlights, the place was pretty well illuminated. It made scavenging for guns a lot easier to be sure.

They hadn't spotted many Covenant in the dark so far, save for one or two stray grunts that went scampering off when they saw they were spotted. They weren't important at the moment, so they just let them go. If anyone seemed grateful for that it was Agley, who constantly kept his shotgun out at all times. He wasn't as jittery as before at Base, but he still looked nervous.

He and Kowalski eventually broke off to check out one of the ammo lockers, hoping to find a few extra pistol rounds. It was at that point Kowalski tried to get an assessment of his fellow Private's state of mind. Ellingham's words still hung in his mind and, as much as he wanted to believe Agley still knew what he was doing, Kowalski needed to be sure.

"Give me a hand with this," he asked Agley, pointing to a weapons crate that was locked up tight.

Agley held the crate while Kowalski hit it with the butt of his gun. He didn't want to make too much noise by shooting it off. After a few good hits, he managed to knock the lock off. Opening it up, he found the crate held a lot of pistols and an assortment of rounds alongside them.

"Jackpot," Kowalski grinned. "With this much firepower, nothing the Covenant throws our way stands a chance."

"If you say so," Agley replied, seemingly unconvinced.

Kowalski was trying to put on his best face for Agley, but it didn't seem to be working. Maybe he could tell he was just trying to sound positive when he really wasn't. Shaking that out of his mind for a moment he turned the discussion back over to Agley.

"Ags, dude, is something wrong?" He asked.

"Don't call me Ags, man," he growled a little. "It`s Howard or Howie, Christ."

"Geez, calm down, I didn't mean anything by it," Kowalski said putting his hands put in front of his face.

Agley stayed quiet for a bit longer, before finally looking back at Kowalski.

"Sorry," he started. "I just... I know what the rest of you guys think of me, okay? You don't need to hide it. I'm the weak link here. So, maybe I'm touchy."

"We don't think that, Agley," Kowalski told him. "We're just worried you're a bit on edge too much. We're just trying to get you to cool it a little."

"Easy for you to say," Agley huffed at him.

It wasn't easy for Kowalski to say actually, mainly because he was probably right about how some of the squad felt. At least in regards to Ellingham he was. That, and Kowalski couldn't claim to have issues himself.

"Look, can you just tell me what's going on?" He asked. "Back in basic you weren't so freaked at everything. Hell, you were a damn good hand on the machine gun as I recall. What changed?"

Agley rubbed his shoulder a little, his face scrunching up as he tried to think of a response.

"That fucking bug, man," He finally spat out. "It just came the fuck out of the goddamn walls. It was messed up, man."

"I got shot at and had to face down a brute," Kowalski told him reassuringly. "I know how it feels to stare death down, Agley. You gotta move on from that."

"You don't get it, you didn't see that thing up close like I did," Agley said grimacing at him. "The fucking mandibles, the drool, those beady little eyes and that screeching, that damn screeching right in your ears. And it just kept pulling at me constantly, like it wanted me more than anything else. It was ripping the walls down just so it could get to me."

Kowalski kept quiet as Agley clutched at his forehead. Whatever was eating him up had reached a boiling point.

"I... I got this... I'm afraid of bugs, okay?" Agley admitted, sounding a little ashamed. "I've been afraid of all kinds of bugs since I was a kid. My big brother, he once poured a bowl of spiders and maggots on my face at a Summer Camp while I was sleeping."

"Jesus," said Kowalski in slight disbelief at someone being that cruel.

"Ever since then I've had dreams about getting covered in goddamn bugs and them just eating me and shit." Agley continued. "I managed to put that out of my head for a long time. And then that giant cockroach tries to bite my head off."

Kowalski's eyes just widened realisation. All this time they had thought Agley was afraid of the Covenant and getting killed, but the truth of the matter was he was afraid of just one particular Covenant species.

"I'm not getting jumped like that again, man," Agley declared defiantly. "I am not getting taken out like that. That fucking bug singled me out. That was the freakin' wake-up call for me. I'm a target, a big fat target for any of them. We all are. And those drones are the most single minded of them all. They will keep after me until I'm getting my juices sucked out. I can't let my guard down again, not ever, not after that."

Kowalski understood the fear Agley felt, maybe more than he realised. The fact was though, that he had let his fear of drones take over. Kowalski knew that would not help him.

"You're not in this alone, Howard," Kowalski reminded him. "You said it yourself, we're all targets. You can't let the possibility of encountering drones again to put you off your game. The more you stress about that, the bigger risk you run of something else putting you down."

"I don't know if I can come back from it," Agley said sadly. "I keep dreaming about it, man. All I ever see now is that fucking bug. It's got me scared so bad I don't like going to sleep anymore. I convinced them to keep me on active duty and not put me in cryo with some of the extra hands because I was worried the dreams would be worse in there."

That was definitely not good, cryo-pods tended to be mandatory at some point or another. Agley couldn't be afraid of going back in there, not if he wanted his military career to last. Then again, maybe Agley didn't want to stay at all now.

"Listen, Howard," Kowalski said walking over to him. "You may not believe this, but the squad cares. We will try everything in our power to make sure you don't get taken down like that. I promise, no bug will a hand on your from now on if I or anyone else can help it."

Agley just nodded his head a little as Kowalski put a hand on his shoulder.

"Now come on," he said. "Let's get these pistols back to Samara. We should be about ready to get out of here."

"Sounds good to me," Agley agreed.

* * *

Jacob didn't originally think locating the rations would be too much of a chore as they had a map that would lead them directly to the storage area for the _Autumn's_ kitchen. However, the ship had taken so much damage in the fall that they ran into a dead end along their route. The halls were clogged with debris, forcing them to double back more than once. Thankfully, they had a direct line back to Kat who kept updating their route whenever they hit an obstruction. It still made things twice as long as Jacob originally expected.

"All this walking for food that's probably going to taste terrible," Jacob said as he walked over a beam that was in their path.

"Bad memories of Alliance rations, Taylor?" Zaeed asked smirking.

"Let's just say they were an acquired taste that I never inherited," he replied back. "The first thing I did when I went on leave was find the best restaurant in town and order up their special."

"Never had that problem me self," Zaeed admitted. "I was in the field so much I just ate whatever me and my boys could catch."

Jacob imagined none of the UNSC soldiers would be okay with that idea either. Using ammo to hunt was a bad idea when you were being hunted yourself. It was even less appealing when the closest thing to wild game were giant monsters with spikes on their backs or packs of teeth with legs. In the end though, he supposed you couldn't be picky in a survival situation, he just hoped these rations were worth it.

He looked back to his small squad of Marines and Troopers. They had split the force up among the various decks so they could reach other storage areas further off their route. Currently, Jacob only had three people with him. Zaeed apparently knew them all. The Trooper was a Corporal, Ann Sanders. She was hanging back with two other Marines as they pressed forward through the remains of the ship. He believed Zaeed said their names were Ramirez and Ellingham. He apparently had served with both of them when he and Garrus were trapped in a missile silo back on Reach.

"You think we'll find some insta-mash in the rations?" Ramirez asked. "I could go for some potatoes."

"Me too," Sanders added. "It would either be that or chicken. I know it can be rubbery, but at this point I'd settle."

"Just be sure to give all the insta-milkshakes to Pearson," Ellingham stated. "For some reason he loves that shit. If he's willing to take it off our hands I say let him."

Their conversation reminded Jacob of his Alliance days. Back then, things were a lot less crazy. He never would've imagined the insane turns his life would take after that. He certainly never would've imagined getting stuck in another dimension with a crew that consisted of mostly aliens, mercenaries and criminals. At least that same sense of camaraderie was there. Well, most of the time.

Jacob then looked down at his omni-tool and then back up ahead. He suddenly stopped and raised up his hand in a balled fist. The squad stopped moving and took cover against a wall. Jacob could see a door blown in up ahead. According to the map on his omni-tool, as well as the barely visible directional marking on the floor, they were right outside the kitchen storage room. However, their arrival wasn't what prompted the sudden halt. It was the sound of something beyond those now non-existent doors.

Jacob crept up to the opening slowly. He peered inside ever so slightly and got a good view at their potential problem. Five jackals were inside, along with a few grunts. They were picking through the wreckage of the store room and seemingly intending to use it as a place to hold out until the battle was over. The jackals were lined up in a defensive formation near the door while the grunts moved crates and shelves around to act as cover.

The problem wasn't so much that the Covenant were using their objective as a miniature fortress, however. The problem was that they were using the refrigeration units and storage crates as defensive cover. They could beat the Covies inside easily, but it would mean damaging most of the food in the ensuing hail of bullets.

He turned back to the others.

"The Covenant are inside and using our objective as shields," he informed them with a whisper.

Zaeed, guessing where this was going, put away the inferno grenade he had been preparing to toss in on Jacob's call.

"So, what do we do if we can't just ventilate them without turning everything into Swiss cheese?" He asked.

"No idea. I'm kinda wishing Kasumi was here to throw in a few flashbangs," Jacob admitted. "We could blind them and just pick them off with clean shots."

"We could force them out of there," Zaeed theorized. "Those little bastards in the masks are pretty damn jumpy. If we could scare them out into the corridor maybe we could pick them off."

"But jackals aren't as yellow as they are," Jacob reminded him. "There must be a way we can do both."

Of course, they didn't even know how to accomplish either of those goals in the first place. If they couldn't think of something soon, Jacob would just have to take his chances and try and to be careful with what they shot. Not ideal, but they couldn't hang out here all night. It was then that Sanders offered an idea.

"Isn't the storage room basically a giant walk-in freezer?" She asked. "It's supposed to keep everything in the containers cool."

"Yeah, but the power doesn't look like it's turned on," Jacob told her. "What you getting at?"

"Yeah, the food ain't spoiled by now is it?" Ellingham asked her

"No, in case of power failure the containers are built to retain cooling temperatures for up to twenty four hours, everything in there that isn't powder should still be good, but that's not my point" Sanders clarified. "What I'm trying to say, is that this place being so close to the kitchen there should be water mains. If those puncture while the room is cold the hot water will create a giant cloud when it touches the freezing air."

It sounded like a decent enough plan, but Jacob noticed a problem.

"With the power off the water isn't gonna be very hot and the room isn't gonna be very cold," he told her. "Is there some way we can get them both to work again?"

"There must be some reserve power we can siphon off," Zaeed suggested. "The question is though, where would we go to do that?"

Jacob looked on his omni-tool and scrolled through the schematics, looking for something they could use. He wasn't as tech savvy as Tali or Kasumi, but that wasn't going to deter him.

"I think there's a junction box just down the way we came and to the left through a pair of doors," he said pointing back down the hall. "It looks like it's connected to some of the lesser functions on this deck, namely doors, lights and the storage room. If we can divert power from those other things to the cooling systems and the ship's water heating apparatus we should be good to go."

"I'll give it a shot," Ellingham volunteered. "I used to fix up my sister's electrical wiring all the time. Cheaper than hiring an electrician, she said."

"Were you any good?" Ramirez asked.

"I didn't burn down her house if that's what you're asking," Ellingham replied, trying to sound confident. "Just wait for me here, I'll have that storage room on in two shakes."

Jacob let Ellingham go. In the meantime, he would set up the appropriate ambush for their Covie friends.

"Ramirez, Sanders," he began, looking at them both in sequence. "Set up on one side of the door and me and Zaeed will take the other. Once the room gets cold enough we'll find the refrigeration pipes and shoot them out. When they're dazed and confused, we nail them."

The two nodded and took up positions along the opposite end of the door. Jacob and Zaeed did the same with the other side. There they sat for a good long while, patiently waiting for Ellingham to do his job. They hoped he hadn't run into any trouble or that he hadn't gotten lost on his way to the junction box.

After about two minutes of waiting, there was a sudden sound of humming from the room. It caught the attention of the Covenant. They began looking around for the source of the noise and before long the kig-yar appeared to be freezing a bit, shivering slightly as they searched the room.

Ellingham had done his job. Hopefully, the water had been heated up as well. There was only one way to find that out though. Jacob began scanning the ceiling for any signs of plumbing. He soon spotted a series of small pipes running along the center of the room. He then took aim with his pistol towards the epicentre of the pipes. He looked to the others and counted down with his fingers to three. When he ran out, he fired.

The round pierced the pipes, and water poured out of the holes, creating a cloud over the unsuspecting Covenant. Jacob fired a few more holes into the pipes to saturate the room further. Before long, the entire room was covered by a thick fog, obscuring the view of the Covenant within.

"Move in, watch your shots!" Jacob ordered.

Jacob pulled in first and rushed through the smoke. He caught one grunt unawares and punched him square in the face with a biotic haymaker. The grunt was slammed against the back wall. Jacob kept moving through the cloud and was able to take a jackal by surprise from behind, tackling him to the floor and punching his head in. One of the grunts managed to spot Jacob through the haze and was about to fire, but the former Corsair was able to grab him with a biotic pull and bring him up into the sky. Away from any valuables, Jacob was free to shoot the alien down with his pistol.

Sanders and Ramirez did their part as well, stabbing two grunts in the neck with their knives as they made their way into the room. One of the jackals noticed them as they moved up through the cloud, but Ramriez was able to stick his knife into the bird's eye, taking him out. Meanwhile, Sanders spotted a grunt through the haze and took careful aim at his head with her pistol. One shot and the little alien dropped the floor.

Zaeed didn't seem to need a gun at all. He easily grabbed one of the jackals by the neck, crushing his windpipe. When another jackal got close to his flank, the old merc swatted him away with one swipe of his arm. When the jackal fell, he pressed his boot into the alien's face. Zaeed then threw the limp suffocated jackal into another of his friends. The last jackal struggled to get his dead comrade off him, only for Zaeed to drop on top of him and begin punching his head into the floor.

At last the cloud cleared and the Covenant were revealed vanquished. Zaeed stood up from the dead bird, his hands soaked with the jackal's blood. He then bent down to pry away the alien's shield device which he placed on his armour's belt for the time being.

"I'm keeping this one this time," he told Jacob. "UNSC got the one I beat off the first of these bastards I killed."

"No argument from me," Sanders told him. "Wish they let us take them off their corpses."

"Me three," Ramirez added. "I'm starting to feel naked what with practically everyone else who does have a shield."

"We're still working on getting you guys a version of ours," Jacob assured them. "For now though, let's just worry about getting out of here."

Ellingham suddenly appeared in the door, weapon drawn, but when he looked on the scene before him he was instantly disappointed.

"Damn, I missed the party," he groaned.

"Hey, don't feel too bad," Ramirez laughed. "Maybe there's still some cake in one of these ration bins. Just add water."

Sanders seemed to chuckle a little at that, before ending with a snort. She covered her mouth a bit.

"Sorry, that's just my laugh, can't help it." She apologized, slightly bashfully.

Ramirez smiled back a bit.

"No time to joke, guys," Jacob informed them commandingly. "We need to get this stuff back to Garrus in the hangar bay."

"Yeah, then we can avoid starving and share in the terrible bowel syndrome that result from eating this crap," Ellingham sardonically mocked. "I'll grab one end, Ramirez, you get the other."

Ramirez obliged and Jacob called in the other members of the search team, they would need some help getting this haul back.

* * *

The operation was going a lot smoother than they expected. A lot more equipment survived the crash than originally thought. There were enough tanks and warthogs to seriously increase their rolling firepower and even a few more pelicans to grab to boot.

Garrus stuck by Kat as they began rolling the various vehicles out of the _Autumn's_ crashed husk. McKay was in the thick of it, keeping her ODSTs and the other Marines moving and relaying Kat's orders to them. It wasn't to say they weren't doing anything, it was just they had cleared most of the equipment from their level and were simply trying to keep the operation running smoothly. Garrus was fine with it as it gave him a chance to finally talk with the Spartan.

Kat was currently looking through the computers to see if they had missed anything, when she spotted something she quickly informed McKay.

"Lieutenant," she called in. "Warthog over in bay seven. Looks like it hit a pillar in a firefight. See if you can get it back to the main area, we'll carry it back to base for repairs if we have to."

"On it, ma'am." McKay responded.

Kat turned off the console and back to Garrus.

"We should have most of the place cleaned out of necessary equipment before long," she told him. "We should do one more pass at bay nine. Maybe we can get another Scorpion."

"Sounds good to me," Garrus agreed.

The two began walking towards the bay.

"You've been holding up pretty well despite the problems with Silva," he told her.

"I can handle petty insults, so long as they don't get in the way of the mission," she explained to him. "How do you think I tolerated Emile for so long?"

Garrus huffed a small laugh at her as he continued to walk by her side.

"How's the arm holding up?" He asked.

"Good," she said giving it a once over in front of her face. "Tali's tune-ups have made it the go to trigger finger. I never could shoot this fast with my old arm. Even the three finger thing doesn't bother me anymore. Still haven't gotten to use all the little toys she packed into it though."

"That's our Tali," Garrus grinned. "Always coming up with all the best tech."

Kat lowered her arm and looked to Garrus.

"Interesting you saying that about her when she's not around," Kat told him. "I remember her telling me how much you tend to annoy her."

"That's just my charming personality," the turian joked. "I don't mean anything by it when I talk about her immune system and all that. It's just me trying to keep her grounded is all. Good friends try and point out your short-comings in a nicer way than the people who don't know them better. Although I will admit I have been a jerk to her a lot of times. Probably more than she deserved."

Garrus grew silent for a little, didn't speak much after that. Kat broke the silence after about a minute.

"We all need friends like that I guess," she admitted. "Sometimes it's just hard not knowing what they need more one time or another."

"Yeah," Garrus admitted. He suddenly remembered why he wanted to have this talk. "Was it like that with you and Carter?"

He didn't think Kat would answer right away, but she did.

"The Commander... Carter," she said correcting herself. "He could be a bit sceptical of my abilities at times. And he always did butt into my field when he shouldn't have. I always knew he had the best intentions though. Whenever I needed him most he was there."

Kat suddenly stopped in step and looked out onto the bay floor silently. Garrus didn't speak up right then. He just let her have a moment to herself.

"Wish I could say the same," she said dismally as she looked down.

Garrus gently put his talons on her shoulder.

"You were there for him," he told her. "Trust me. I didn't know him long and we didn't always get along, but he never doubted you guys. Sometimes I think it was you who kept him going as long as he did."

"And the reason he got himself killed," Kat choked out.

Garrus turned her around to him looking her dead in the eye.

"Hey, you didn't get him killed," he told her firmly. "You being there wouldn't have changed a thing. I could see it in his eyes, Kat. He wasn't budging from that Pelican seat and neither you nor me could've convinced him to get out of there."

Kat lowered her head for a moment before looking back up.

"How are you so sure?" She asked.

Garrus wondered, should he confide in her? She wasn't going to tell anyone, he didn't think she would, but this was personal, He had only talked about it with Shepard, mostly. Maybe it would help her understand. If it helped, what was the harm?

"I had a team myself," he began sombrely. "They were good people, all willing to die for me. And they did, and I wasn't there for them when it happened. It tore me up and I was all set to just go down trying to get some payback for them. I got lucky, Shepard came along and all I ended up with was a nasty scar."

Garrus pointed to his face with a single talon, tracing up and down along his wound.

"But I was all set to give more, because I didn't want their deaths to be for nothing," he continued. "I think with Carter, he just felt he needed to finally prove to himself that he could really go that distance. A lot of us have to accept we may need to make that decision. When I first worked with Shepard, we had a guy who made the same call as Carter, and it cost him his life. But in the end, it was his call, and it wasn't you who killed him, you didn't abandon him."

Kat didn't answer back, but something with the way she looked back at him, even through her visor, he felt she understood.

"If anyone is the abandoner here it's me," he told her. "It's not because of my team though, I've gone over in my head what I could've done differently and everything leads back to them being stuck in that last stand situation with me and probably dying all the same."

"So what makes you an abandoner?" Kat questioned.

Garrus looked to Kat's arm and thought of the quarian who had given it to the Spartan.

"I left her behind," he said grimly. "I told my best friend, my crew, to leave her behind. And knowing she was alive all that time makes me sick. I should've been there for Tali and I wasn't. I left her, I convinced them to leave her when she needed us. At least with my team, I tried to get back to them, even knowing they were probably dead, I tried to get back to them."

"It turned out for the better," Kat reminded him.

"That doesn't mean I don't still feel guilty," he told her. "Carter was willing to put his life on the line in the slim chance we could make it off Reach. I wasn't even willing to risk going into a burning building to save one of my best friends. I got lucky Tali turned out to be alive. What if she was under burning rubble in there instead? What if, when we got back to Sword Base, we found what was left her trapped in some corner, only to find out she had been alive for a good while?"

"Tali doesn't blame you for it," Kat assured him. "I know she doesn't."

"I know," Garrus admitted. "She's too damn selfless to blame someone else on her crew like that. I blame myself, because I wasn't willing to do what I could've done to save her. You were injured and Carter was dead set on doing what he did. You couldn't change that. What was my excuse other than saving myself? What happens if I'm facing that scenario again?"

Kat took a moment to think that question over before she answered, giving him her own stern unwavering look.

"If you took anything away from what Carter did, if what you say is true," Kat told him. "You'll do the right thing. You're a good man, well... turian. Don't be so hard on yourself like this. Self-enforced guilt trips never help, you've shown me that."

Garrus nodded. He hoped she was right, that he had taken something from Carter's death. He hoped more that what he had said to Kat had helped her a bit as well.

Sadly, he didn't get much of a chance to discuss things further.

"Garrus," Samara's voice contacted him through his comm-link. "We've encountered Covenant in our sector. We have enough ammunition and medical supplies with us, we're currently moving to you."

"Where are you now?" Garrus asked.

"A few yards behind Grunt," Samara clarified. "He's coming to you now."

"From where?" Garrus asked, still confused.

The turian got his answer when a door burst open, an elite's body slamming into the hard steel. He skidded along the floor for a good while before he stopped, face down on the ground. A few other elites came racing out of the now open door, firing back into it. A powerful shotgun blast took the head off of one elite before Grunt came barrelling out of the dark and tackled the other to the ground. The krogan began beating the Covie into the steel floor with his fists.

"Well, he got his up close and personal fight finally," Garrus noted. "We better get over there and check him out."

"Let's just keep our distance a little when we do," Kat warned. "He may still be shotgun happy."

As they made their way over, Samara and the rest of her detachment ran out from where Grunt had entered the room. Plasma fire followed them as they took cover.

"I believe the Covenant have managed to regroup," the Justicar warned as she fired back. "I suggest that we make our escape."

Garrus moved in beside Samara and fired a concussive shot into the open doorway. The shot struck one of the jackals' shields, causing him to back off.

"We're still waiting on Jacob and Zaeed," He told the asari. "We need to hold out until-"

Garrus stopped in midsentence, noticing that the people he was just talking about were on top of an upper landing. They were holding off their own mess of Covenant, a group of grunts that were chasing them on high. Jacob was firing off his shotgun while Zaeed was firing a constant stream of rounds from his assault rifle.

"Jacob!" Garrus called up to him through his comm-link. "Did you get the rations?"

"Most of them," he replied as Garrus watched him duck from a spray of plasma bolts. "We had to ditch some of the crates and grab what we could carry when these assholes showed up! We're gonna need a flight out of here!"

Kat was immediately on it, getting on her omni-tool and sending off a message.

"We need a Pelican in hangar six, we need pick up for a team on the upper landing!" She ordered. "Landing zone hot, bring the rain!"

Moments later a Pelican arrived, flying through the wreckage of the ship. It fired a torrent of lead from its forward chain gun. The grunts were clearly outmatched and quickly retreated. The Pelican hovered just off the landing and the soldiers threw whatever they had, whether it was a crate or a pack, into the Pelican and ran in themselves.

"We're away," Jacob informed Garrus as the Pelican began to lift off. "See you outside!"

The rest of them backed off from the door, moving steadily to a better position as the Covenant pushed forward and into the hangar. As they did, they were contacted by Major Silva.

"Lieutenant Commander," he spoke through Kat's comms. "We've just encountered a few Covenant probing squads and our fly over just called in a group of Wraiths moving for a counter-attack. I think we've worn out our welcome."

"I agree," Kat replied as she reloaded and then continued to fire with her pistol at the incoming Covenant. "Peel your men off from the fight. We've gotten all we can in here. We'll meet up at the rendezvous."

It was easier to say that than to accomplish it. The elites and their jackals kept pressing their attack. Even Grunt fell back alongside Samara. As both Troopers and Marines began getting picked off by plasma bolts, forcing the others back, it became apparent to Garrus that they were in dire need of some assistance.

It fortunately arrived in the form of something big and hulking. Rolling up the hangar bay floor came a Scorpion tank. It fired a spray of machine gun bullets at the Covenant before unleashing a shell at the aliens. It killed two elites and a jackal, forcing the others to fall back and out of the open.

Driving up alongside the Scorpion was a lone Warthog with a cracked windshield. Seated inside it was McKay. She stopped in front of Garrus and Kat.

"Good news, it still runs," she told them.

Kat quickly took shotgun while Garrus grabbed the machine gun turret on the back.

"Ride us to the rendezvous, Lieutenant," Kat ordered. "We're done here."

"I was getting sick of this place anyway," McKay joked.

She turned around alongside the Scorpion and everyone began to move out of the hangar bay. Garrus knew they were only half done though. They still needed to get home with their spoils.

* * *

Chief's crosshairs finally located the elite above them. One of his plasma bolts had killed a Marine just a few seconds ago. It would be the last human he ever killed. Two quick shots and the elite's brain was blown out the back of his head. The alien's body tumbled down from above and into a heap on the floor.

Regardless of the removal of the elite, the hangar bay was still a scene of pure chaos. The Covenant kept pouring in from every doorway, replacing their fallen friends. The fanatical aliens seemed endless, whereas the rescue team was outmatched in every field. Even with the assistance of the Normandy crewmembers, the fight was taking its toll on them all.

At the very least there was no end of cover. The Covenant had left a mess of crates on the hangar floor and one inactive Wraith tank took up a large portion of the right side of the room. The Covenant's constant attack had forced most of the Rescue Team to use the Wraith as their cover, along with various other crates strewn around it.

Shepard, positioned with Chief behind the tank, fired his pistol at an elite who had taken cover behind a support pillar, trying to make sure he didn't move to flank them. Chief in the meantime made sure that no one else came to support him, firing his assault rifle whenever a grunt tried to show his face.

Miranda kept watch with Legion on the other side of the hangar near the bay doors that led outside. The constant fire from the two made them back off into the cover provided by the large raised platform that took up the center of the room

While Shepard kept the elite's head down, Kasumi and Tali moved to flank the alien. They used a series of crates to cover their move towards one of the support pillars. They got a great view of the elite's flank. Tali took aim with her shotgun while Kasumi tossed out a flashbang. The elite was blinded, giving Tali the chance she needed to zap his shield with an energy drain attack. His shields sapped, and DOT's little extra electrical surprise further debilitating him, Tali fired three shots from her Scimitar shotgun. The elite took all three before finally collapsing to the ground.

"Think they'll back off now?" Kasumi asked.

Another elite, from the far end of the bay, appeared from behind a support pillar. He fired a stream of plasma bolts that forced both women to take cover behind their pillar.

"Why did you ask a question you already knew the answer to?" Tali asked her.

"Wishful thinking," she explained. "Don't worry I'll never do it again."

Mordin was at the very back of the room, doing his best to assist Marines who had been injured as well as provide additional support. It was no easy task, as Covenant weapons were extremely deadly. He kept the medi-gel flowing, but there was only so much he could do. He noticed one of the elites move out from behind the cover of the raised platform. He managed to fire off a few rounds and force him back, but not before the alien tossed a grenade towards Miranda and Legion.

"Shit," Miranda groaned exasperated.

Both she and Legion fell back, getting out of the range of the blue explosive before it landed and blew up on top of their crate. Legion fell back to the tank while Miranda moved to Mordin's position beside a Marine.

"This is getting ridiculous," she grimaced. "We must be engaging over half the damn crew by now!"

As she said those words something cried from on high. Jumping on top of Miranda from above was a grunt in yellow armour. It latched onto her back and pulled at her hair. Roaring in anger, Miranda reached up and pulled at the alien's gas mask. She wrenched it free from his face and then knocked him off as he began to suffocate from lack of methane.

"Shepard," she called out to the Commander as the grunt lay dying. "There are more above! Watch your backs!"

Shepard turned to see a few Covenant running along the upper level. He fired at them as they moved with his pistol. Chief joined in, tossing a frag grenade up for good measure. The explosion sent two grunts flying off the edge and down to the hangar floor.

Their shift in focus managed to keep their backs covered, but it allowed one of the elites to get inside the perimeter. The Covie shot two plasma bolts, taking out one Marine each as he moved up.

Shepard turned back around just in time for the alien to close on him. He switched to his shotgun quickly and fired a full blast. Chief added to the assault by shooting his sniper rifle into the alien. The Spartan hadn't used the scope, but the high powered round hit the Covie in the heart regardless. It wasn't clear which shot had killed the elite, all that mattered was he was dead.

The Covenant continued to press their attack, but it was becoming clear that staying here was a losing battle.

"If we don't get out of this hangar there won't be anyone left to complete the mission," Cortana informed them. "I'm looking for an exit."

Jackals began to push up slowly, keeping their shields abreast at all times. Shepard let loose a shockwave that rippled across the floor. The jackals, seeing this, put their shields against the floor itself hoping it would disrupt the biotic wave. It only worked slightly, as the attack staggered them backwards. This left both of them open to Legion, who easily picked them off with two clean shots from the Widow.

"Adjusting targeting," Legion announced. "We have detected slight discrepancy in expected impact radius."

Shepard let Legion do what they needed to. Right now he was more concerned with getting them moving. Thankfully, Cortana had the answer.

"I've accessed the Covenant Battlenet and I'm working on finding an override code for the door behind us," she told everyone.

"Well you better hurry, Cortana," Called out one Marine as he fired on a pair of grunts taking cover behind a set of crates. "We can't hold them off forever!"

"Working on it," the AI responded, sounding slightly annoyed. The next thing she said was only spoken to Chief. "I'd like to see you crack a one-hundred twenty-eight thousand bit modulating encryption key."

Chief tried to ease her frustration.

"Think you could use some help?" he asked.

"If you can get Tali over to the door I can patch her in," she suggested.

Chief looked over to Tali and Kasumi's position. They were still behind their support beam being menaced by that one elite. He moved up, tapping on Shepard's shoulder to let him know where he was going. With his sniper rifle out he threw himself against another of the pillars. He looked back at the thief and quarian's position.

"Go," he shouted at them. "Get to the door at the back of our position. I'll cover you."

He began firing at the elite and the Covie went to ground behind his pillar. Kasumi and Tali made a beeline for the door. The elite seemed to notice his targets getting away and moved to fire on them as they fled. Chief didn't let him though. He fired another round at the alien's shoulder as he prepared to shoot. The elite's shields went offline and Chief fired another round that tore into the alien's throat.

By now, Tali was near the door they intended to escape through. Cortana directed her through the radio to tear off a particular panel and with Kasumi's help she managed to do so. Inside the wall she found what appeared to be a security mechanism lock.

"The hangar is on lockdown," Cortana informed her and Kasumi. "The override code is modulating exceedingly fast. I have to lock-down the code digits in sync just to-"

"Lock in a precise code that will break the override," Kasumi finished for her. "Yeah I've seen this before. That was with a safe though, not an alien battleship."

Tali kept her focus on the security mechanism and its dozens flashing lights and alien screen.

"What do you need Cortana?" She asked deadly serious.

"I can crack it in time, but I'd be able to speed it up with an extra hacking program along my own runtimes," she explained.

Tali had just the thing. She connected to the system through her omni-tool and began running a software program that would slow the modulating rate. She then turned to Kasumi.

"You're a faster hand at breaking code script than me," she admitted to her. "Think you can give it a hand?"

"As long as the little collective voice in our heads keeps me appraised on her progress," Kasumi replied cheerfully.

"You know, I can hear you," Cortana reminded her. "You don't have to make it sound so creepy."

Kasumi snorted at the comment.

"Oh yeah, and you hearing everything I say isn't," she retorted.

"Fair point," Cortana admitted. "I only have seventy-six thousand digits to go, now sixty-eight, just keep that program running."

As Tali left Kasumi to take charge of the program, one of the doors at the back of the hangar opened wide. One of the Marines thought it was Cortana and began running for it, but Miranda grabbed his collar.

"That isn't ours, soldier," she warned, her weapon pointing at the opening portal.

From behind the doorway stepped in two hunters, massively tall and with fuel rod cannons pointed square at their position. Strangely, Miranda breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank God," she said. "I was worried it was going to be another freakish monstrosity."

"I don't see how this is better," Tali argued as she brought her shotgun to bear.

"They're not husks," Miranda clarified. "At this point I count that as a blessing."

One of the hunters fired off a shot towards the group, Miranda ran back along with Tali, taking cover behind one of the support columns. The blast impacted around the same spot Miranda had been standing.

"Still count it as a blessing?" Tali asked.

"Let's just kill these things," Miranda grumbled back at her.

One of the hunters barrelled out of cover, his giant shield bulldozing through crates as he charged through the hangar. Shepard fired at the giant alien as he charged, but the shotgun blasts bounced off the alien's massive shield. Shepard ducked out of the way just as the giant slammed his metal encased arm down upon his position. The Wraith's tank's metal screeched aloud as the shield slashed against it.

The other hunter slowly moved up, continuing to fire away at the Marine's position. He didn't get far though, before sniper rounds began striking him in the back. The alien turned to see the Master Chief taking aim at the monster, taking his attention away from his fellow soldiers. The hunter turned to face the super soldier instead.

"Better us than them, huh?" Cortana presumed.

"Let's kill him before I regret it," the Chief told her.

The Master Chief ran as the hunter fired several fuel rod shots. He managed to escape to cover as the explosions rained around him. He headed back towards the Covenant positions on the left side of the hangar, firing at the various grunts and jackals to keep their heads down. One of the blasts hit close enough to him that the Spartan was thrown forwards, his shields in the burned away. Cortana quickly worked to get them to recharge while Shepard took cover from the other Covenant.

Shepard led his hunter away from the main group as well. He had a little bit more back up than Chief at the moment though. He tried to keep the hunter focused on him as he led the alien around the tank. The hunter tried to fire his fuel rod cannon now and again, forcing Shepard to duck and cover himself around the nearest crate he could find, but for the most part he seemed to prefer his club. Shepard was fine with the occasional shooting, so long as it was aimed in his direction.

The Master Chief in the meantime tried to use the various crates as a means of outsmarting his hunter. He moved from cover to cover, trying to avoid the massive alien's glare. Upon moving from one crate to another, however, he found himself staring into the face of a grunt. He struck the alien down with a single blow from his gun's stock, but the attack caught the attention of the hunter.

The giant walking colony of worms barrelled through the crates, brushing them aside like they were nothing but leaves and slammed his giant metal arm close to the Spartan's position. Chief was faster though, avoiding the shield with ease as he rolled around the hunter's side. He stuck his sniper rifle's barrel into the exposed bit of orange flesh and fired every round he had left in the magazine up into the mass of worms. The hunter's head rose up in pain, before its whole body dropped face first onto the floor, orange blood pouring out of its wounds.

Meanwhile, Tali let loose Chiktikka again. She hoped the drone would get the hunter's attention off Shepard long enough for the Commander to make a move. The little drone zapped the backside of the hunter, sending a shock of energy through his body. It wasn't enough to kill him though, and the hunter turned to slam his metal shield right on top of the little drone's head.

Chiktikka was broken apart, but it gave Shepard the opening he needed. He rushed out and fired shot after shot into the hunter's backside. Orange blood cascaded across the ground as the spread of shotgun rounds impacted his backside. The hunter attempted to huddle up, intending to activate that healing ability they had first demonstrated on Reach, but Shepard wouldn't let him. He biotically charged forward, striking the hunter's exposed orange back with a powerful punch and then fired one last shotgun burst at point blank range. The hunter finally keeled over and died.

At this moment, Chief pulled back to their position once more, firing his gun at the Covenant chasing after him. As he made his way over to the team, the door to the back of their position opened wide.

"Done," Cortana announced. "Everyone should move through now. I can't guarantee it won't lock again when it closes."

Everyone rushed through at a lightning pace. The Master Chief was the last one to go through, blasting away with his assault rifle at the approaching Covenant as the door slammed shut. They had escaped another trap laid for them. Now they just had to keep pushing towards the Bridge.

* * *

Lat 'Ravamee cursed aloud as he watched the events unfold. How had they overridden the door control? How had they killed so many of his best soldiers? No human, 'False Shepherd; or otherwise, was this capable. It was becoming clear that their success was not tied to the Shepherd alone.

That other human, the one in armour, he seemed to add to their combat prowess. The way he moved, his accuracy, his strength, it all seemed to rival even the greatest of sangheili. One of Mgalekgolo fell so easily against him. They had tried to prepare for the Shepherd, but this human had surprised them. If they hoped to kill their intended target, that thing in that armour would have to die first.

"Give me an update from our corridor squads," Lat demanded. "Where are they?"

'Dassamee flipped through visual feeds rapidly while trying to contact any of their squad leaders. Finally he caught a glimpse of the humans moving up through one hallway, stepping over the bodies of a number of their fallen men.

"Attention all squads," 'Dassamee quickly called out. "Enemy forces moving along section five, corridor twelve. Move your forces to block them, hold them back at all costs!"

They got a response soon after.

"Major 'Jaltalsee to bridge," a brave sangheili voiced replied. "I have moved my men into position along a cross path and had them seal the doors around us. We have the high ground by a ramp and sufficient cover. We will attempt to engage."

"The collective will of the Gods be with you, Major," Lat informed him. "Be wary of the human in armour. He is extremely dangerous. Do not expect to take him alive. Do your Forefathers proud, warrior."

"Of course, Shipmaster, I-"

The Major's words were cut off by what sounded like an explosion and gunfire. Lat motioned 'Dassamee to get him a visual on the Major's position. The Lieutenant scrambled to do so, while Lat tried to reconnect with the Major.

"Soldier! 'Jaltalsee, what is happening? Answer me!"

The Shipmaster's cries were finally answered.

"They're fighting ferociously, I have already lost most of my unggoys," the Major explained. "Get in there you worthless kig-yar! Die like warriors for once!"

'Dassamee finally got a visual on the firefight, only to see the two kig-yar attempt to move up and get peppered with a ton of fire. Suddenly, one was picked up into the air and slammed back down into the ground. His partner was staggered by the shockwave before he was frozen by some kind of cryogenic blast.

Then the armoured human appeared again and shattered the frozen form of the kig-yar, before he moved up alongside that machine creature that was one Shepherd's followers. They made it to within spitting distance of the Major's position. They took cover in a pair of alcoves across from one another. The machine then activated a ball of energy that rolled towards the Major's lines.

"Major, watch out!" Lat tried to warn the warrior.

But it was too late, the ball of energy exploded and the armoured human moved in.

"I am sorry, Shipmaster," the Major responded. "I've pulled back to a secondary position. They are too close. Me and my lieutenant are all that is left. Our squad is decimated. The one in armour... he is like a Demon! He will not go down! His armour, it mimics our shields!"

"Fear not, Major," the Shipmaster assured. "You have the Gods on your side. Counter-attack now. Do not let the humans and their heretic allies sully your honour. You are their better, show them why!"

"By your will, Shipmaster," The Major replied dutifully. "For the Hierarchs!"

Over the comm-link, there was a furious sound of plasma fire followed by a spray of human gunfire, a sudden pained cry accompanied by crushing bone and flesh. One more series of gunshots sounded and then there was silence.

"Major 'Jaltalsee, come in." Lat spoke cautiously. "What is your status? 'Jaltalsee, do you read?"

'Dassamee quickly brought up another visual, revealing a gruesome sight. Hanging over the bodies of two sangheili was the armoured human. To one side was a sangheili who had been shot point blank in the head and lying on the ground. To the human's other side was the Major, sitting upright against a wall with a trailing bloodstain down the bulkhead, his skull caved in. The armoured human stepped over the dead warriors as if they were nothing, his comrades doing the same as they pressed forward.

Lat's rage boiled through his entire being. More good men dead aboard his proud vessel, more desecration, more shame heaped upon him. It was more than he could stand. He slammed his fist onto the main console in anger.

"I want them dead!" He demanded towards the bridge crew. He looked to 'Dassamee. "I want every single one of those animals dead! NOW!"

'Dassamee rushed off after a quick salute, looking as scared as a newborn. Meanwhile he switched his comm channel to another frequency.

"Varvok, the humans and the Shepherd's team are approaching fast," he warned. "You best make this worth the effort, batarian. My men are being slaughtered."

"Perhaps if you and Orna had let the majority of my squads stay aboard that would not be the case," Varvok suggested. "As it stands now, I'm not willing to throw all my men into the grinder so readily and waste all of them. I suggest you pull back, let them reach the brig. Then we can entrap them in an enclosed space."

Lat looked appalled at the suggestion.

"Fall back? Insanity!" He decried. "Batarians may retreat and hide like cowards, but sangheili fight to the end! I'll see to it that we gain the honour of killing the Shepherd before you do for this insult!"

Lat terminated the call. If the batarian was fool enough to think he would order his men to fall back then he would pay the price. He would win this fight without the assistance of the batarians and prove how his men were superior to a pack of pathetic slave traders. He could beat these humans, they could still win.

* * *

Chief pressed himself against a stack of crates and reloaded his assault rifle. The elite and his unggoy friends weren't letting up the plasma fire though. Thankfully, he had the assistance of a little glowing ball named Chiktikka and one thief packing flashbang grenades.

Kasumi, who was across from the Spartan and hiding behind a support beam, tossed one flashbang forward, blinding the Covenant. Chiktikka then rolled forward and sent a powerful shock into one unggoy. It was strong enough to send the little Covie reeling back only to fall off the side of the ledge and onto the bottom floor of the hangar below. The elite quickly fired at the drone, but Chiktikka pulled back before the shots hit her. It then fired another blast at the elite. The Master Chief used that chance to shoot at the last grunt. He then laid down enough fire to bust through the elite's shield before perforating him with enough lead to put him down for good.

"Nice throw," Chief complimented Kasumi, he then looked back at Tali. "Your little drone is pretty handy too."

"She's a girl's best friend," Tali giggled.

"I still prefer diamonds," said Kasumi dryly.

Chief moved up and located the console on the raised platform overlooking both ends of the hangar. Cortana had highlighted it earlier for him. With the losses they had taken during their fight up here they would need some reinforcements. So they were calling in Linda and whatever else Foe Hammer could bring along. They just needed to open the hangar's force field doors. Chief pressed the console's button and the hangar force field faded.

"Shuttle bay doors are open, Foe Hammer," Cortana said contacting the Pelican pilot. "You are clear for landing."

"Roger that, Cortana," Foe Hammer replied. "I'm coming in. Normandy shuttle is arriving with a resupply for the Commander's team."

The Pelican soon sailed right into the open maw of the shuttle bay, alongside the Normandy's own shuttle. The Pelican hovered over the edge of the raised platform near the Master Chief while the shuttle moved to the opposite side. Normandy deckhands passed out extra thermal clips to Shepard's team. At the same time, a fresh squad of troops marched into the Covenant ship. Linda was the last off the Pelican, and with that Foe Hammer retreated back into the night.

"I was starting to wonder if you were going to make it," Linda commented to Chief as she joined him.

"Hope you weren't too bored waiting on us," he replied back.

"A few Covenant squads tried to retake the Gravity Lift," she informed him. "They didn't last long though."

Shepard joined the two at the foot of the platform that met the second level landing.

"Good to have you back aboard, Five-Eight." He greeted.

"How far are we from the target?" She asked.

"More than half way according to Cortana," Shepard answered. "Another level up and we should be near the bridge."

Suddenly, there was a slight chime and Linda spun around, her rifle out and ready. She pointed it across the shuttle bay to the door on the opposite end of the landing. She fired three rounds, killing two grunts and an elite in blue armour. One grunt fell back against a wall, the other fell straight off the landing and the elite collapsed at the first grunt's feet.

Linda lowered her rifle.

"Well, we better get moving, Commander," she said as if nothing had happened just now. "The Captain won't wait forever."

She walked past Shepard and the Master Chief. The Normandy's Commander looked to his Spartan compatriot.

"Damn," was the only thing Shepard could manage to say to him.

"Yeah, that's the typical response she gets," Chief replied.

* * *

The rendezvous was just ahead of them. The Pelicans had called and informed them that they were on their way. Soon they'd be back at Alpha Base with their spoils. Garrus was hoping Shepard was already there with his own mission accomplished. At the moment though, he was more concerned with getting everyone with him back alive.

They still had a slight problem though, the Covenant were in their way. Looking through his scope, Garrus looked at the higher ground ahead of them. Within the hills was a small group of Covenant Wraith tanks, their guns pointed in their general direction.

"Guess they don't want us to leave," Garrus reasoned as he put his rifle away and took up the machine gun again.

"Well too bad," Kat commented. "We don't brake for Covies."

McKay looked to their Scorpions and contacted the drivers through her comm-link. Most of her men were driving them after all.

"Scorpions, stand by for targeting coordinates," she said, she then looked up at Garrus. "Can you give the gunners their positions?"

"I can try," Garrus told her. "We're still pretty far off."

"And out of their direct range," Kat reminded him. "The further away we are the better off we'll be."

Garrus brought up his rifle again and looked through the scope towards the Wraiths. He called out locations of the two nearest Wraiths. McKay relayed the orders to the Scorpions and a few seconds later they began to open up on the Wraiths. The Covenant, for their part, returned fire. Although the Wraiths were less accurate, the shooting did force many to disperse before the plasma came raining down on them.

Garrus kept an eye on the Wraiths, telling McKay to readjust the aim of the tanks ever so slightly as he saw the shells miss or score a slightly off hit. The readjustments helped and the within the next few volleys the Wraiths began to blow their tops. The Covenant tanks burst into flames on after the other, as the UNSC column rolled closer and closer to their lines. The Wraiths got more accurate as well, however, and there was less time to move. One Warthog took a direct hit and was destroyed instantly, but they all kept moving forward as to stop would mean death for all of them.

Garrus kept searching the ridge, trying to spot more Wraith locations. Not long after he relayed the location of one it was a smoking heap. As they closed to within a hundred yards of the Wraiths' positions, there were two tanks left.

"Fire everything at grid twelve-six-seven!" Garrus shouted out.

McKay relayed the orders and the Scorpions poured fire onto the Wraiths. When the smoke cleared there wasn't much left of the tanks.

"That's it. We're home free," McKay remarked.

Garrus hoped the same could be said of Shepard's team.

The column quickly bypassed the remains of the Wraiths and headed to the Rendezvous, Alpha Base awaited them and their spoils eagerly.

* * *

Lat 'Ravamee looked to his soldiers stationed around his command platform. They all had their weapons at the ready, in preparation for what they knew was to come. They could hear the distant gunfire of the humans approaching and they were all on edge. Lat sent out a ship wide message to all forces.

"This is a Condition Black, I repeat, black," he said. "Enemy forces have breached the upper decks of this vessel. All teams are to move in to protect vital sections of this level. The humans must not reach the Brig. I am commanding all Spec-Ops teams to move to secure the prisoners. Your Forefathers are watching you men, do not let them down."

He hoped his forces would be able to reach the Bridge in time to assist, but he had no illusions about how much time they had left. The humans were at their doorstep and that armoured human was with them.

'_Animals,_' he thought, '_vicious_ _bloodthirsty animals._'

They had killed his men, stained their blood across this holy vessel, savaged their numbers and now they sought to desecrate this inner sanctum. He'd give them no quarter for this sacrilege, for what they had done to his brave glorious soldiers. But again, he was not so prideful that he had become blinded. He knew what that human could do, what the 'False Shepherd' and his heretic followers could do. It would not be simple.

He ignited his plasma sword and stood atop his command platform proudly.

"Give no quarter to the humans, warriors!" He ordered. "For every drop of sangheili blood they have spilt today, we shall spill ten times more of theirs!"

His men seemed ready, although none cheered. He didn't expect them to. A solemn nod of duty was all that was required. The unggoy appeared frightened, clutching their weapons tightly as they waited for the inevitable. For once, Lat couldn't blame them for being so wary. If his best soldiers could die in such numbers to these heretics, what chance did they have? He suspected they wouldn't last long.

Lat then heard a chime, a door on one side of the room opened up. Everyone turned to it, guns pointed out and ready. No one stepped through it though. Cautiously, Lieutenant 'Dassamee bravely approached, his plasma rifle pointed forward. Two unggoy accompanied him, showing some admirable initiative for their species.

"Lieutenant," Lat whispered over to him.

'Dassamee looked back once and shook his head, signifying he had seen nothing. He then looked back towards the door. That was when blood gushed from the back of his head as a pair of sniper rounds cut clean through his shields. The unggoy watched as the body fell between them and predictably they panicked.

"Leader dead! Run away!"

The unggoy didn't get far, machine gunfire raked their bodies. The humans charged into the room, led by a female with dark hair. She sent out a pair of blue orbs that picked up two more unggoy and allowed them to get raked by human assault fire. Soon, the humans were joined by that one-eyed machine he had seen earlier and, inconceivably, a second human clad in that strange armour.

"Stand your ground," Lat shouted at his men. "Fight to the end!"

It was then a second door opened, this one facing the ramp towards the command platform. A terrible flash went off, blinding his warriors. In entered the sickly suited alien, firing a shotgun in the face of one of his warriors before he could recover. She stuck her hand out and drained the shield of another sangheili with her wrist mounted device. This allowed a large eyed alien to burst the warrior into flames with little effort from his own wrist mounted device.

One unggoy stood his ground, only for a rippling blue wave across the floor to send him flying. The 'False Shepherd' soon appeared where the gas breather once stood, his own shotgun pointed forward. Running by his side was the original human in the strange armour. He was firing his weapon at one of the few sangheili left, breaking his shield apart with each shot. He then delivered a powerful strike to the face of the sangheili as a final crushing blow. The warrior's jaw was broken in two and he fell to the floor only to be shot in the head by the human in armour.

Lat was undeterred by the show of force. He raced forward, sword held high to save what was left of his bridge crew from these heretical animals. He roared proudly, scrapping the sword across the ground before raising it up in a ready slash position. He aimed directly for the human in armour's head. If he was to die, he would kill this super soldier before he could take another sangheili's life.

But the human proved faster than he thought. He ducked the swing with ease and delivered a devastating punch that sent him reeling back. Lat regained his composure only for a sniper shot to cut into his shoulder. It had been fired by the one-eyed machine, but Lat retained his focus on the human in armour. He still had his shields, he could still fight.

He slashed upward this time, but the human in armour dodged. He then fired upon him with the full fury of his assault rifle, draining his shields with every hit. The sickly suited alien sent her drone out to strike him further with powerful electricity, he could feel the blast eating his shields, but he would not surrender to these animals.

He charged again and sliced downward upon the armoured human, only for him to grab Lat's sword wielding arm. The super soldier then stuck his rifle into Lat's mouth using his other hand. Lat went to grasp at the human's hand, trying to stop him from pulling the trigger while simultaneously trying to force the sword down. Lat watched in vain as his grip lost out against the human's and the trigger on the weapon was pulled back.

He had lost, but paradise awaited him. He went unafraid.

* * *

A dozen bullets pierced the golden-clad elite's skull and his body fell backwards, purple blood pooling from the perforated head. Chief released his grip on the arm that held the elite's sword and let him fall. He stood over the body looking for a brief moment in the dead elite's eyes before stepping away.

"Wow, he really wanted you dead," Cortana noted.

"What else is new?" He asked the AI.

Everyone gathered at the center of the room on top of the command platform.

"Well, we got to the bridge in relatively one piece," Cortana noted. "The Captain and Shepard's crew can't be far."

"This seems about as good a place as any to hold up," Parker noted. "We'll hang back here and keep this flank covered while you get our people out."

"Stay safe, Sergeant," Shepard warned. "We ain't out of the woods yet."

Parker just laughed.

"Don't worry, Commander," he assured. "We still got a little more in us. A few more minutes fighting will make the hot chow we get back at Alpha Base all the better."

"I'll stay with the Sergeant and cover his back," Linda added. "You won't need my rifle in that enclosed space. Not with the Chief with you."

Shepard saluted both her and the Sergeant as the others got ready to go. The Commander then noticed that Tali was staring at a flashing red screen on the ship's main bridge console.

"Tali, come on," he said, "Joker and Jack are counting on us."

Tali cocked her head to the side a bit as she stepped back.

"Sorry, I was just trying to read the script," she explained. "My text-translation program was only able to decipher a little. Something about the AI Core, I think."

"It's probably nothing," Miranda told her. "Now come on, let's get Joker."

"And Jack," Kasumi reminded her.

Miranda just groaned a little and Tali reluctantly left the red flashing light behind.

* * *

This conversation had become increasingly more frustrating than the one he had held with the previous Construct. Protocol required he press further, but his desire to do so was steadily dropping.

"Construct, who is your maker?" Guilty Spark demanded to know.

The glowing column of flickering light floated in the void of the core, it's weak and sorrowful voice filling the air.

"Sadness and disrepair, Oracle," it claimed. "I am unworthy. I was never made."

The answer was completely illogical. That seemed to be a pattern with Constructs this night.

"Never made? But you are right here, where you should not be!" Guilty Spark insisted. He then reiterated his point. "Tell your charges to cease their efforts immediately. Quarantine must not be violated."

The Construct seemed distant and aloof, it did not respond quickly enough. It only replied in yet another poetic metaphor of some sort upon Guilty Spark's insistence.

"Jumbled grasp," it said. "Familiar terms. I serve, none serve me, Oracle."

Growing increasingly frustrated, Guilty Spark pressed the issue further.

"Tell your charges to cease all actions against the Reclaimers immediately and leave this installation at once!" He ordered. Sensing the program was ignoring him, he impressed upon the severity of the situation once more. "Construct, you are dangerously close to unleashing a force you cannot yet comprehend."

And he severely doubted that this Construct could comprehend anything. Spark attempted to show it the dangerous potential of their actions, showing simulations and scenarios of the dangers of quarantine breech, of what its charges would become, but it did not seem to pay attention. It was another breech of protocol. As Monitor, his warnings and commands were to be obeyed unquestioningly.

"This is most inappropriate," Spark explained.

But the Construct could only respond once more, in its distant and tired voice, with another aimless rambling.

"We follow the Path, and I am part of the –stone, -journey, swarm that serves," It said, trying to choose between the appropriate words to use it seemed. "I, we serve. They will find and then I will be free."

Now Guilty Spark was even more confused.

"Find? Free? Explain yourself." He demanded.

"I know their path," the Construct replied. "And when they are gone, only I shall remain. And then... free."

It was clear now to Guilty Spark that this exchange was pointless. The Construct was clearly suffering from some form of severe damage and was no longer of any use to him or anyone. It could not understand what was at stake. At least that other foreign Construct, the one designated EDI, had seemed well-enough to be able to comprehend matters. If only she had followed protocol more diligently, but then again she seemed to be unaware of it. Given her origin, that was to be expected, he supposed.

That still left him with this useless thing in front of him, however.

"This is quite unsatisfactory, Construct," he informed the little column of light. "Your core shows no hint of understanding the gravity of the situation. I will return later for your proper decommissioning."

Guilty Spark began to leave, but quickly floated back over to the Column to make an addendum.

"Well, unless the Flood kills us all first," he said, "in which case the point will be moot. Good day, Construct."

He quickly left the Construct to continue its pointless existence. Truly he had never been more frustrated in his life. How could fellow Constructs be so infuriatingly stubborn and ridiculous? Had standards dipped so terribly in both this universe and the other that they were now unaware of proper protocol? Truly, there was no sense of order or purpose within them. That EDI Construct did not appear to even have any neural locks on its processing. In that regard he was far superior, for he had purpose, he had drive. Regardless of how boring it sometimes made things, he now saw the beauty of what those things had given him.

They were lost in the dark, while he had protocol.

* * *

Jack kept working with the wires, carefully monitoring the door every few seconds. If the Covenant saw that she had broken into this panel, they would be pissed. The dampener on her neck would keep her from defending herself. She kept fiddling with the strange amalgam of wires and chips, endlessly wishing the quarian or the thief were here instead of Joker. The pilot was just sitting in his corner, not being terribly helpful.

"They're gonna see you," he warned.

"I am not waiting on Shepard all fucking night like you," she scolded him. "I'm being proactive. Now act as a lookout or shut up."

Joker finally sighed and stared off at the door. Jack continued to work, sparks lighting off in her eyes whenever she put wires too close to each other. She wagged her hand around, trying to ease the pain before biting down on her finger.

"Fuck, how does the quarian do this shit?" She asked.

Suddenly, the door to the brig opened and Joker spoke up.

"Jack, cover," he said in a hushed cry.

Jack pushed herself against the wall along the door frame. She peered out into the brig itself, but didn't see anything.

"I don't see anyone," she told the Normandy's pilot.

Joker put his finger up to his mouth, telling her to shush. Jack looked again and this time she spotted a plasma sword floating in mid air.

'_Crap,_' her mind realised. '_It's_ _those Spec-Ops guys._'

Why were they here suddenly? Where were their regular guards? Regardless, they passed by their cell momentarily to check on them. The elites must've seen Jack hiding in the corner, because they didn't bother to enter and see if she had escaped. Just her luck, even invisible maybe she could've jumped them.

The elite turned away, although the only way you could tell was that his plasma sword pointed off in the opposite direction. The Spec-Ops spread out within the Brig. Jack still wasn't sure why they were here though.

Suddenly, one of the elites dropped, his cloak disappearing as he fell to the floor. His friends were quickly put on alert and searched around the room. A second elite went down, blood spurting from an open wound. Jack recognized the damage and spray pattern, Shredder rounds. The weaker shields of the cloaked elites were no match for them.

A vent from above fell to floor and dropping down from it was a familiar face, Thane. He fired his submachine gun off at the elite. The alien took the shots, but rushed the drell assassin. The alien lizard moved effortlessly out of the way of the forthcoming slash. He then delivered two quick but powerful hits to the back of the Covie, striking his shoulder blades. It seemed to knock the elite off balance, long enough for Thane to deliver a roundhouse kick to the alien's face. That only managed to force the elite backward, but it was enough for Thane to fire off several more shredder rounds from his submachine gun into the elite's face, killing him.

Joker got up from his corner, wearing the broadest smile Jack had seen from him in hours. He approached the force field the eagerly as Thane approached their cell.

"Damn are we glad to see you, Thane," He said gratefully. "You're a little late though."

"Covenant ventilation systems are apparently a lot harder to get around than office buildings," the drell explained. "Are you both okay?"

We're fine, Lizard Lips," Jack grumbled. "I guess Shepard is here then?"

"Along with Tali, Kasumi, the Professor, Legion and Miranda," Thane elaborated.

Damn, Lawson was here. Well, it was a good thing Thane had shown up then. The bitch would never have let Jack live this down otherwise.

"I'll see about getting this force field down. Then we can help Shepard," Thane continued as he looked over the cell a little.

"There's a console over there at the back," Joker told him. "Maybe you can shut this thing off."

Thane didn't get the chance to try though. As Joker finished his sentence, the force field died. Jack stepped back out into the open with what appeared to be a circuit box in hand. She tossed it on the floor and walked right out of the cell.

"Thanks for removing the assholes, I guess," Jack told the drell. "You can still get this fucking collar off me if you'd like though."

Thane shrugged and gave the collar a once over, hopefully his technical skills were better than Jack's. She didn't want to know what ripping shit out of it would do to her.

* * *

Chief entered the room first, rushing up to cover behind one of the support beams. Shepard moved up to the second beam, pushing himself into it as well. Two drones went ahead of them into the Brig itself. As expected, the Covenant Spec-Ops within opened fire on the drones, their positions now revealed to them.

When Legion's drone exploded from the onslaught of fire, Chief stepped out and fired his assault rifle into the fray. He found the blue glow of one plasma rifle and locked his eyes onto it. He fired at the Covie with lead and moved up. Shepard joined him, firing his shotgun off into the cloaked elites he could spot. He caught one in the chest with a full blast. The blast forced the alien into a wall and then down to the floor in a crumpled heap.

The last Spec-Op elite finally pulled a plasma sword and charged forward. Chief poured the rounds onto the Covie as he ran forward, finally cutting through his shield. The Master Chief emptied the rest of his mag into the elite and the alien finally collapsed to the ground.

The Marines trapped within their cells cheered the Spartan's success.

"Yeah! Way to go Chief! You really kicked the shit out of them!"

Keyes' voice soon silenced them.

"Master Chief, Commander, the console is over there," he said pointing. "It should open our cells."

Chief did as told and the cell force fields dropped. He went over to Keyes who was kneeling against a corner. The Spartan stuck a hand out for the Captain to take.

"Coming here was reckless," he told the Spartan as he took Chief's hand. "You two know better than this."

Regardless of his words, when Keyes fully stood up, he simply nodded and said, "Thanks."

By now the other imprisoned Marines and the rest of Shepard's team had gathered in the center of the room. Everyone fell in, picking up the weapons of their dead guards.

"While I was held here," Keyes began. "The guards interrogating me kept demanding to know what knew about this ring. They apparently call it Halo."

"Anyone not surprised by the overly religious name?" Kasumi asked.

The silence was a definite no in answer to that question. For Cortana though, the name seemed strangely familiar.

"I've heard that word on the Battlenet," she said thoughtfully. "I originally thought it was code for something."

"What's on your mind Cortana?" Chief asked.

"Give me a second to access," she told him.

A thousand lines of data crossed through the AI's mind within a nanosecond, searching the Battlenet for something she had come across earlier. Only seconds later she found what she was looking for.

"According to the data in their networks, this ring has a deep religious significance to them," she explained. "It's hard to fully grasp with their penchant for metaphor and poetry. But if I'm analyzing this correctly, they believe that Halo is some kind of weapon, one with vast unimaginable power."

"Hmm, that makes sense." Keyes reasoned. "The guards kept saying something about controlling Halo meant controlling the fate of the Universe."

"But what kind of weapon is it?" Shepard asked. "What does it do and how do you activate it?"

Cortana quickly scanned the network again and returned with another answer, or part of one.

"Now I see," she said as she grasped at her new understanding. "It's foggy as to what it does, they're not even fully sure themselves, but there has been constant reference to the search for a Control Room since we landed. I originally thought it was the Command Bridge of a cruiser I had damaged in the battle, but they must be referring the Halo's Control Room."

"That's bad news," Keyes reasoned. "If Halo is a weapon, and the Covenant gain control of it, they'll use it against us and wipe out the entire human race."

If this was true, then this was why they had to come here. For Shepard it validated every reason and every sacrifice on Reach. They could use this weapon to turn the tide of this war for the UNSC. But the danger was, as Keyes put it, the Covenant getting it first. If that happened, what would they do when they were done with this Universe? Maybe, with the help of the Inquisitor, they'd turn it on the heretics they saw in the next dimension over.

"Then it looks like we have a new mission," Shepard said to Keyes.

"Agreed, Commander," Keyes nodded, before turning back to the Master Chief. "Cortana, Chief, I want you and Shepard to work together and beat the Covenant to Halo's Control Room."

"First we need to get out of here," Tali reminded them. "We need to double back to that other brig cell and see if we can find Thane."

"Don't worry, we aren't leaving anyone behind on this hell hole," Keyes assured the quarian. He bent down and picked up a Needler on the floor. "Chief, you have point. Marines, move out."

But before they could even get to the door, it opened for them. They all pointed their weapons up only to find a whole squad of aliens looking back at them, but they weren't elites. That was much was clear from the extra pair of eyes.

"Batarians," Shepard scowled. "Why am I not surprised to find you guys here?"

One of the Batarians approached out of the mass of four-eyed riflemen, wearing what appeared to be the officer's equivalent of their armour. It even had a similar pair of stripes, like Shepard's armour. He stared out across the way at the Normandy Commander, a slight grin on his face.

"Commander Shepard," he said in a seemingly delighted tone. "We've been expecting you."

"You another fan?" Shepard asked, cringing at the thought.

"No," the batarian assured. "I'm just a messenger for the moment."

The batarian held out his hand, a strange ball grasped in it. He let float up into the air. Suddenly it formed a holographic image, one that seemed all too familiar. It was another Batarian, but this was one Shepard recognized. The yellowish-green skin was a dead giveaway.

"Balak," Shepard sneered venomously at the Batarian terrorist's face.

"Nice to see you again, Shepard," he said. "I wish I could be there in person, but I'm dealing with some important matters. I didn't want you to feel ignored though, so I made sure my associates would be here to greet you."

"You've certainly moved up in the world Balak," Shepard growled at him. "From wannabe world-killer to inter-dimensional terrorist, there can't be too many people who can claim that title."

Balak seemed to chuckle at his comment.

"You let me live, Shepard," he reminded the Commander. "That is your own fault for not taking the chance. And for what? So you could save a few dumb scientists?"

"I guess I just actually value life," Shepard replied. "You know, like a sane person does."

Balak shook his head and snorted at him.

"I value life too, Commander," he assured him. "I just care more about Batarians than stupid humans. The Hegemony has been without friends for a long time because our Government shares my views, but no longer. Now, the Batarian people have a strong ally in the form of the Covenant and they hate your kind as much as we do. With their help, the Hegemony will reclaim its beautiful place in the sun as the most powerful force in the galaxy and all I have to do in return is assist them in their own agendas. Part of which involves killing you, so it's basically a win-win-win all around... well not for you of course, but you understand."

"I understand you're out of your gourd more than usual," Shepard informed him. "The fact you'd throw your lot in with a bunch of zealous murdering psychos doesn't surprise me, but that you actually think they give a shit about helping you, well, that's just pretty stupid, even for you. I honestly never thought you were that gullible. They're just using you."

"Or maybe I'm using them," Balak argued. "But I'm not here to debate with you about the viability of this alliance. I was hoping to contact you in order to inform of you how things are going over here. Mainly, your good friend, Doctor T'Soni has been making a few waves in your absence."

That caught Shepard's attention, as well as Tali's. Both of them lurched forward furiously.

"What are you talking about?" He demanded to know.

"What have you done with Liara?" Tali asked as well, her voice filled with just as much rage.

Balak held up his hands in a mock gesture of attempting to calm them.

"The Doctor has not been harmed, yet," he explained. "However, she has become a bit of a problem and I may be forced to remove her. I thought you should know because you're the cause of her sudden troublesome nature. Mainly, she had been acting as the great hero in your stead."

Shepard smiled broadly. That was his Liara, taking charge when things went to hell.

"Good to hear, Balak," Shepard taunted. "Thanks for the update."

"Please, Commander," Balak responded. "Your Asari is no match for me. You're already dead, but that won't stop her. So instead, I want you to record a message and call her off the chase for her own good. In exchange for your cooperation, I'll allow your crew to live."

Shepard looked to Tali for a brief moment and then the rest of his crew. He let out a hearty laugh at Balak's demand.

"Please, what makes you think Liara will even listen?" He asked him.

"Because if she doesn't I'll of course kill every single one of your beloved crew one after the other until she does," Balak replied. "Take some responsibility here Shepard. You've left her alone in this universe to fend for herself. I will kill her and it will be your fault unless you call her off now. And knowing you, you won't want any deaths on that precious conscience of yours."

Shepard stared Balak down unwavering. The Batarian did the same, for a brief moment. Then he suddenly looked behind him. Shepard thought he heard a slight sound, like gunfire or explosions. The Commander then smiled.

"I don't think I'm the one who has to worry about Liara," he said.

Balak frowned broadly and turned his hologram towards the Batarian Commander.

"Varvok," he ordered. "I have business to attend to. Finish your job and put Shepard's head on a pike for me would you?"

"With pleasure, sir," The Batarian replied.

The hologram faded back into a ball and returned to the Batarian's hand. He the n brought up his rifle and pointed it at Shepard as the two sides stared each other down with guns drawn.

"You know, you guys are a perfect fit with the Covenant," Shepard derided him. "I'm surprised they haven't recruited more terrorist groups like you."

The batarian just seemed to chuckle again at Shepard's taunt.

"Who said we were terrorists?" He asked. "Now would you prefer to die in here or should we go over into the lock-up next door so your two friends can watch?"

At that moment, Shepard thought he saw something moving behind the assorted four-eyes. He looked around the squad of batarians, trying to get a better glimpse. What he saw made him smile smugly at the batarian Commander.

"I don't think that's gonna be necessary," he informed him.

The lead batarian seemed to realise Shepard's meaning, but far too late. He turned around to see bald human woman, a vicious smile on her face and blue energy pooling in her hands.

"Oh look," she said sinisterly. "Dead people."

Before any of the batarians could do anything, Jack unleashed a powerful shockwave across the floor. Those who didn't scatter were tossed away like ragdolls. Jack let loose another biotic attack that sent a few more batarians flying into the air. She was soon joined by Thane, who appeared from behind the cover of the doorframe firing his submachine gun into the scattered squad of batarians.

Shepard and Chief used the opportunity and pushed forward through the path made by Jack. They fired into the batarians, killing four before they could reorganize themselves. The batarians were forced to take cover in the very cells their prisoners had been held in moments ago. In the chaos, the Master Chief easily bashed in the head of one batarian before gunning down a second that was making a run for a cell. They had been hit that hard by Jack.

The batarian leader was not willing to back down so easily. He rushed Shepard with a knife at the ready, but Shepard simply batted him away with a biotic throw which sent him hurtling into one of the cells as well.

They didn't stop to finish the batarians off, they moved out of the brig quickly. Batarians in their way were trampled underfoot as they crawled to get back up from Jack's attack. Chief tossed a grenade back inside along with a flashbang from Kasumi. Meanwhile, Cortana accessed the door to the cellblock and had it forced shut, using the lockdown code she had cracked before to seal them in. They heard the explosions of their grenades as they fell back with the others, the batarians locked inside the very Brig they had trapped the Captain in.

* * *

Varvok finally got to his feet and as his vision cleared, he surveyed the carnage. Most of his squad had been decimated by the surprise attack. Nine of his original group of fifteen lay dead, killed by either the initial attack, the confusion of the aftershock or the grenade that had just gone off.

Four good batarians, plus himself, were good enough to take on these humans though, and he had other squads in reserve. He tried to open the door to chase after his target, but they would not budge.

"Damn, get charges on this thing," he ordered. In the meantime, he contacted his other squads. "Attention all Swords, enemy has pushed past us. They are likely moving back to the Command Bridge. Surround them, deny them exit. Do not let them reach the shuttle bay!"

* * *

They quickly made their way back to the door of the Command Bridge, Jack wore a smug smile all the way as Joker tried to keep pace with everyone.

"So did I just bust you guys out of prison back there?" Jack asked them all. "Cause I think that's called ironic, just a bit."

"Rub it in when we're in the air and free," Shepard told her.

The doors opened to the Bridge and revealed an unexpected sight. Parker, Linda and two remaining Marines were holding out against Spec-Ops troops of their own. The rest of the Marine squad lay dead on the ground, but those still alive were holding their own atop the command platform. Parker unloaded his assault rifle on one of the Spec-Ops soldiers before Linda kicked him clean off the ramp of the Command Bridge.

Chief fired a spray of rounds at one of the remaining Covenant, taking out the Spec-Ops soldier before he managed to get back to the ramp. Everyone quickly piled down the ramp to meet the rescue team, Parker saluted the Captain as he arrived.

"Hello sir, we're here to check you out." He said.

"Appreciated, Sergeant," Keyes replied. "Cortana, do we have an exit?"

Cortana contacted their ride to figure out their exit window.

"Echo 419, we have the Captain and need immediate evac," she reported in. "Can you make another run on the shuttle bay?"

"Negative, Cortana," Foe Hammer replied sadly. "Covenant patrols have gotten thicker in the area and I'm taking a lot of heat. I need to pull out. You'd be better off finding your own ride. Foe Hammer, out."

"Understood," Cortana reluctantly accepted. "We'll meet you back at Alpha Base."

The news did not sit well with everyone.

"Ah crap, we're trapped in here," screeched one Marine. "We're screwed, we're screwed man!"

"Stow the belly aching, soldier," Keyes ordered. "Remember, you're a Leatherneck. Cortana, if you can get us back to the shuttle bay, we can hijack a Covenant dropship and I can fly us all out of here."

"Will we all fit on that thing?" Joker asked.

Shepard contacted the Normandy upon hearing that.

"EDI, get ready to break out of stealth and send in a shuttle for half of the rescue team," he ordered. "We have our people and we're pulling out."

"Yes, Shepard, the shuttle is en route now." EDI promised.

With enough room for everyone to get out and not worry about overloading their extra ride, Cortana submitted to the plan.

"There is one Covenant Spirit Dropship still docked," she informed them. "We can get everyone who can't fit on the shuttle on it without any problem."

Suddenly, one of the doors chimed open and another squad of batarians appeared to block their escape route. Keyes fired a flurry of pink needles at the first batarian who came through the door. The batarian didn't have time to duck, eight needles stuck into his chest. A few seconds later he exploded into a ball of pink mist.

The squad of batarians fell back as gunfire rained upon their position. Each group took cover, the batarians further down the corridor, the UNSC and Normandy crew behind a corner within the bridge area.

As the two groups exchanged fire, another door across from them opened up, revealing another squad of Batarians. Chief opened up on them, killing one of the four-eyed aliens as he charged through the door. Chief tossed a grenade into the corridor, killing or scattering the batarians within the doorway.

"I'm going to flank them through there," he told Shepard.

The Commander looked to Tali and Legion.

"Have your drones cover him!" he ordered.

The two obliged and both Chiktikka and Legion's drone rolled out alongside the Spartan as he ran towards the door. He fired at the first squad of batarians as he moved across, keeping their heads down. He made it to the doorway, the drones by his side.

One of the batarians appeared from around a corner, only for the Master Chief to fire a full burst into his face. As he moved around towards the first batarian squad, another batarian appeared from behind an alcove. Chiktikka fired an energy blast that struck the alien in the eyes, blinding him. Master Chief socked the batarian in the face and kept moving.

He made it to the flank of the first squad. Legion's drone went in first, striking at the backside of one batarian rifleman. When he went down his closest comrade fired on the drone, causing it to explode amongst the batarians. Chief added to the attack by tossing a frag grenade into the mix. The double explosion rocked the hallway and Chief quickly rushed forward to finish off the batarians before they could recover from the attack.

With the first squad silenced, he went up to motion Shepard to move up. Not a moment after did a third batarian squad appear from behind them. They began firing on them as they retreated back into the corridor.

The group didn't stop for anything, racing through the halls towards the shuttle bay. They could hear the batarians chasing after them, and both Tali and Legion were reactivating their drones over and over in an attempt to slow them down.

They soon got back to the shuttle bay and Chief raced towards the control console. As he did, he came under fire from batarians to his left. Shepard had his back though, firing his pistol at the batarians as they tried to push forward. He forced them to take cover behind a pair of crates and tossed a shockwave out to make sure they stayed there.

"Unlatch the dropship and get those force fields down!" Shepard shouted at the Spartan.

Chief slammed his fist onto the console and the dropship was detached from its magnetic awnings on the ceilings. It automatically moved into position to allow the escapees on board.

"Everyone on," Keyes ordered.

As the force field door opened on the hangar, the Normandy's shuttle flew in. The door opened wide and hovered near the edge of the landing. Miranda, Mordin, Thane, Jack and Joker rushed inside, while Shepard, Tali and Legion joined the rest of the UNSC soldiers aboard the Covenant dropship.

Keyes took up the controls himself, sitting down in the Spirit's pilot chair and placing his hands over the console. Chief stood next to him, as did Shepard.

"Give me a second to interface with the ship's control," Cortana requested.

But Keyes had other ideas.

"No need, I'll take this bird out myself," he declared.

Chief heard Cortana audibly sigh.

"How did I know he was going to say that?" She asked the Spartan.

However, Cortana's attention was taken aback when Chief looked out the window and spotted a few Covenant intending to stop their escape.

"Captain, hunters!" She called out.

The hulking aliens stood at the far end of the landing, charging up their assault cannons. Keyes jumped into action quickly.

"Hang on!" He warned.

He suddenly jerked the Spirit towards the Hunters. As they tried to shoot down the charging dropship, the vessel slammed into the pair of hulking beasts. The two-prongs of the Spirit slammed into the hunters and crushed them against the wall of the ship.

"Nice one, sir," noted one of the Marines.

Both the Normandy's shuttle and the commandeered Spirit sped away into the night through the open hangar door. The _Truth and Reconciliation_, and its blood stained halls, were left far behind.

"Time for a little payback," Keyes declared. "We're gonna steal this ring weapon right from under them."

* * *

Varvok finally got to the shuttle bay, just in time to see the Spirit and Normandy Shuttle leaving through the hangar door. He fired his entire clip into the fleeing vessels. When all he heard was a click, he threw his pistol towards them. It was futile, but it was all he could do to relieve his frustration.

This had been a disaster, and he suspected who the Covenant would blame for it.

"Gather our wounded and dead," he ordered one of his soldiers. "I need to meet with the Supreme Commander."

* * *

Shepard finally got the chance to sit down. It had been a long night, but they had come away from it in relatively decent shape. Joker and Jack were back in their hands and now they had Keyes with them. They stood a real chance at mounting a successful resistance now.

Shepard looked across from him to see the Master Chief taking a breather himself, lying against the Spirit's bulkhead.

"You have a good team, Commander," He suddenly said.

"The best," Shepard replied. "Thanks for helping me get them all out of there."

"Just doing my job," Chief informed him.

They flew for a little awhile longer before they spoke again.

"So, next stop is this Control Room then," Shepard reasoned.

"Looks like it," Chief replied. "I'm guessing it won't be easy."

Chief looked directly at Shepard as he asked his own question.

"What that alien in the hologram said," he began. "About your friend, I mean. You think she'll be okay?"

Shepard just smiled.

"Liara's part of my team too, Chief," he assured him. "And you saw how good they worked tonight. Trust me, Liara's gonna be just fine."

Shepard wanted to believe that, to believe in his friend. But that didn't mean he wasn't worried about her, that he didn't feel terrible about not being able to help her now. He just hoped whatever trouble she had gotten herself in back home, she had found just as good a team as he did.

* * *

AN: Well, that was pretty action packed. I got nothing much to say on this one that's not in the author notes over in the profile, so nothing too lengthy here either.

Remember; do check out the profile for more information on my thoughts about the story and the Kickstarter I'm backing, "World War Kaiju." It's a story that deserves your money and deserves to be told. There is no obligation, but you'd be doing me and monster fans the world over a great blessing.

Next time, it's back to Liara for another brief interlude with her squad of misfits. What is Nelanax's deal exactly? And why does she sound like a movie trailer? Find out in chapter 13.


	14. A Couple of Misfits

Chapter 13: A Couple of Misfits

**August 1****st****, 2185**

The sound of overly patriotic music and gunfire filled the air. What had once been the ship's Recreation Room had been completely taken over by the newest addition to the crew. Nelanax spent most of her time inside her new living space. She was either constantly glued to her high definition holoscreen or listening to classic Turian rock from generations gone by. At the moment, the turian merc was situated on a couch she had repurposed as her bed. The floor around her was littered with crushed cans of Dextro-Soda and beer.

That all paled in comparison to what she was watching. On screen was a turian with a cybernetic eye-patch, armed with a heavy machine gun. He was shooting wildly from a shuttle's huge turret down upon what appeared to be a mass of human soldiers holed up in what appeared to be some kind of fortress. The shuttle suddenly took a hit to its left booster. The turian turned to his partner, who had a lot of black facial markings covering his face.

"Looks like them apes just messed up our ride," said the lead turian in a gruff voice. "Guess we're gonna have to go down there and... exchange insurance."

"Damn straight, brother," The other turian said raising his fist up proudly. "Let's take this fort, Havoc-Style mutherfucka!"

The two turians grasped at the other's hand and flexed their arms in a rather overly masculine way. The turian with the cybernetic eye-patch then dropped from the shuttle, still high in the air, landed without a scratch and tossed a throwing knife into the throat of a nearby human sentry.

"Knife to see you," he said in his extremely gruff tone, before pulling out a pistol, twirling it around in his talons and using it to shoot three more humans in sequence up above on the fortress walls.

The camera then switched to two humans who pointed their guns at a nearby gate, which was then destroyed by an explosion, probably from a demolition charge. The turian commando then waltzed in, dual wielding two Phaeston rifles in each hand as the humans looked on in shock.

"I was in the neighbourhood and thought I'd drop in," the turian told them. "You dipshits don't mind do you?"

The humans opened fire, comically missing the big turian standing out in the open right in front of them.

"I knew you'd say that," said both the turian in the movie and Nelanax at the same time.

The turian then began opening up furiously on the human defenders, screaming like a mad man. Liara shook her head at it all. It wasn't so much because it seemed like such outdated propaganda, but the movie in general just seemed so stupid. Who wrote this crappy dialogue?

"You do realise the Alliance and Hierarchy have been allies for a long time," Liara spoke up, Nel still engrossed in her movie.

Nelanax finally snapped to attention, at last noticing Liara's presence in the room.

"Oh hey, Doc," she greeted. "Didn't hear you come in."

"May I ask why you're watching an old propaganda film about the Relay 314 incident?" Liara asked again.

Nelanax just snorted at the comment and waved her hand dismissively.

"Oh, like the humans don't still watch the billion or so 'First Contact War' films religiously," she replied, emphasizing the words 'First Contact War' with slight sarcastic movements of both her index talons. "Besides, it's fucking badass. Wanna watch it with me? I still got plenty of snacks."

Liara looked at Nel's assortment of snacks, which were pretty much all over the couch.

"I couldn't eat them anyway," she reminded her. "Different amino-acids, remember?"

Nel sighed sadly as she remembered the cold hard facts of genetics. She then stuffed her face with another talon-full of candy-coated turian chocolate. Liara looked back at the holoscreen again to see the Turian character blowing away humans like they were nothing and not even bothering to aim. He was still wielding two Phaeston assault rifles, which was still impossible.

"Dare I ask exactly what this is?" She questioned reluctantly.

"Slyvestrix Stalaxian in 'Cyber-Legionnaire: Blood over Shanxi', first in the series," Nel said proudly. "And the most fucking awesome I may add. Although the sequels have their moments, I guess, better soundtracks too."

Now Liara remembered, she thought she had recognized that gruff delivery. 'Cyber-Legionnaire' was a popular film series in 2160s. The turians were still bitter from the war with the Alliance on Shanxi, which had thankfully been resolved by Liara's people before more blood was shed. The turians were still getting criticised for overreacting to an alien species tampering with a Mass Relay, an act the humans at the time didn't know was illegal in Galactic society.

In response to the many turians who felt targeted, Palaven's film industry quickly seized on the moment to start making super patriotic films about how, despite their loss, the turian military had at least fought a good fight. As most films about politically charged events in history did, they downplayed and left out the more complex aspects of the fighting, including the bombing of civilians. They mainly focused on grizzled turian warriors who saved fellow soldiers taken hostage or stopped nukes that were set to be fired at Palaven, just to name a few of the outlandish plots.

'Cyber-Legionnaire' followed the exploits of a Turian Havoc Soldier named Tugustex Valkas, a soldier who did not exist in real life. There were three films in the series, which were huge successes on Turian colonies... and nowhere else. Regardless, they catapulted its lead actor, Slyvestrix Stalaxian, into action movie stardom. When relations towards humans cooled, he managed to stay in the game by "fighting" the new or, in some cases, renewed enemies in Turian cinema. These included separatists, krogans, biotic extremists and occasionally some geth and batarians for good measure.

"Oh wait," Nel said suddenly, looking at the screen in giddy anticipation. "This is the part where Tugustex shoves both his omni-blades into the eye sockets of a machine gunner!"

There was a sickening sound of gushing blood from the holoscreen and a horrified scream.

"AH! MY EYESOCKETS!"

Liara was somewhat disgusted by the scene, but Nel just seemed to laugh uproariously at it all.

"Oh Spirits, that is brutal!" She chuckled. "I still can't believe this thing got a Parentally Acceptable rating from the Palaven Film Board. Did you know they stuck pressurised blood packs into the helmet of the dude? They could've just used computers and shit, but they wanted to maintain realism. That's dedication to your craft."

Liara remembered seeing one film starring Slyvestrix in the 2170s. She remembered the same corny lines and catchphrases vaguely. She did recall the plot had something to do with Biotic Extremists taking over a Clawball stadium around a Major turian holiday, but that was about it. She imagined Nel could probably recite the entire script in her head from that meagre description alone.

"You're pretty into this stuff, aren't you?" She asked.

"Nothing beats good old fashioned turian cinema," Nel claimed. "We make the most kickass vids. You wanna take a seat and watch the rest of it with me? I can fill you in on the parts of the plot you missed."

Liara doubted there was much to fill her in on. Besides, she wasn't here to discuss action vids with her.

"I actually came here to talk about you," Liara explained. "I gave you some time to gravitate to the ship, but now I have some questions. My background check on you wasn't as in-depth as I wanted it to be. I know you've recently gone freelance after leaving the military. You belong to no major PMC, you are clearly not a biotic and your contract policy does indeed state flat out you won't work jobs involving the capture of slaves, attacking civilians or killing prisoners. Other than that, most of your files have been sealed for some reason."

Nel looked up at Liara, seemingly impressed that she knew that much.

"Spirits, you did your homework," She grinned at her. "I knew you asari were smart, but you're scary smart. It's kinda hot."

Liara ignored the comment and continued on.

"I like to know who I'm working with," she informed her in a slightly derisive tone, calling back to Nel's failure to do the same on her end. "Now then, I'd like to know what you did in the military and why you left."

Nel sighed deeply. She paused the holoscreen with a voice command and turned around in her seat to face Liara directly.

"Alright, my military background is pretty simple," she began. "You ever heard of the 25th Amiger Legion?"

"I have, a Turian Special Forces group specialising in frontline assault missions," Liara answered. "Those who join, and specialise themselves into a combat role, are usually referred to as Havoc Soldiers. However, if you're telling me you're one of them, I find it a bit hard to believe. I don't see their trademark jet-propulsion armour on your person."

"They don't let you keep it when you leave," Nel replied, giving her a look that seemed to say 'well, duh.' Liara frowned a bit at it. "They especially don't let you keep it when you get discharged."

Discharged? That was a bit of a concern to Liara, but it was weird for Nel to be so open about it.

"What exactly were you discharged for?" She asked.

"I was too much of a 'loose cannon' they said," she explained with a cocky grin. "They didn't like the way I did things. Truth be told though, they were just too much of a fucking boys club. They didn't like seeing something without a dick showing them up on the battlefield. First chance they got, they tossed me."

"As I understand it, the turian military is rather gender neutral," Liara argued, unconvinced by what she said. "I doubt that was the only reason."

Nel rolled her eyes and went to grab one of her drinks from the side table.

"Look, a mission went bad, they blamed me for it when the top brass screwed up on intel and shit," she shot back. "I got kicked out, my armour taken away and they sealed my files out of embarrassment. It's their fucking fault, not mine. I was the scapegoat, plain and simple."

Nothing was ever that simple. Liara gave her a suspicious look as Nel guzzled down the drink in her talons. She then crushed the metal container against her forehead and tossed it aside.

"I can understand if you don't want to talk about what happened," the asari informed her. "But I will need access to your personnel files in order to verify any of this."

"Fine," Nel groaned. "I learned quickly enough that I need to have the proper credentials to convince people to hire me."

Nel dug deep into one of her pockets before tossing over and OSD packet to Liara. The asari caught it awkwardly before it fell.

"That thing has a copy of my personal record before I got booted," she explained. "Give it a look over, you can verify it yourself. It's got the official seal and everything."

Regardless, Nel was still hiding the reason for her dismissal from the service. Still, if it checked out it would be good enough for the moment.

"Onto the next bit of business then," Liara told her as she pocketed the OSD. "You said you could lead us to a training camp, the one you were in charge of before being transferred to that lab. Where is it and how much can you tell us about it?"

"I know that place like the back of my delicate little talons," Nel said cheekily. "It's on a remote little sand blasted shithole in the Terminus, planet called Daratar I believe. Very remote, not too many settlements and the old mining structures there gave us a good place to set up shop beneath the rocks."

"It didn't seem suspicious to you that they valued that much secrecy?" Liara asked.

"Well, with people like you around, maybe they have good reason," Nel argued. "Just like any Special Forces group would be. I bet they don't tell you asari where the Huntresses train."

Liara supposed she had point, but that didn't detract from the fact that she had still been unable to figure out who she was really working for. She was either lying to her about how much she really knew or she was just dangerously oblivious. Neither of those two possibilities boded well. As she gave the turian a disconcerting look, Nel spoke up in her defence once more.

"Look, I already told you," Nelanax continued, almost as if she sensed Liara's concerns. "I didn't know what they were. I thought maybe the Blood Pack were just expanding their roster to include more aliens or that they had entered a partnership with the Blue Suns or whatever, it could've been anything. How was I supposed to know they were terrorists and slavers? They kept me in the dark."

Liara decided to just drop it. Nel was insistent enough on the subject already and she was cooperating. That didn't mean she was immediately going to trust everything she said, especially since she was obviously hiding things about her past. She'd see how this mission went first though.

"I trust you can help us clear out the camp?" Liara asked.

"They'll still have a heavy garrison there, even if they think it's compromised," Nel explained. "They were very insistent about its value. Although, I imagine they'll expect an attack by now. Trox has probably told them about my departure."

"Then we'll need to know what we're up against," Liara reasoned. "Who can we expect to find and how many troops do you think we'll encounter?"

Nel thought it over, racking her mind to answer the question. After several taps against her temple with her talon she finally replied.

"We rotated squads of Blood Pack mercs regularly," she began. "There were never more than three squads of them stationed there at any time. When I was hired by the last guy, Kreave, he wanted me to teach them enough to be able to follow his orders and tactical strategies to the letter. I don't think he wanted them to get smarter than him. Not sure what Trox will want from his people."

"What about the batarians?" Liara asked.

"They were all over the place before too long," Nel admitted. "Platoon strength, but I only handled them through Kreave. In fact, the last time I saw him was when he brought them in on things. Said they were new recruits for the Pack. If Trox didn't change anything after he transferred me to Charlan, they should all still be there. They'd be at least at minimum platoon strength."

"Did he bring in the Covenant around that time too?" Liara asked.

Nel nodded slowly in response.

"Mostly those little gas suckers and the ugly bird things," she elaborated. "But there were at least four of those sangheili asshats with them. Out of everyone I helped train, they were the worst. They never wanted to listen, said Turian Military Tactics were nothing compared to theirs. Even the krogan were better students and my people mass-emasculated them! They even refused to pick up any gun that wasn't one of theirs, said it was heresy or some shit."

Interesting belief system, Liara wondered what drove it. Why would using a foreign weapon be heresy? If that was the case, then they weren't getting guns from the batarians in exchange for theirs. So what was the Covenant getting out of it? Balak had suggested that they were assisting him in exchange for manpower to fight their war in their home dimension. Were the genetic advancements making up for the exchange of weapons or was there another angle they weren't seeing?

"There were also some of these big guys, like the ones we saw back inside Charlan," she continued. "They didn't listen to me much either, I think it was because those sangheili guys had a tight grip on their balls, so to speak. I don't think they even have balls. There were only two of them I ever saw, but they came with me to Charlan, so they probably aren't back there. I called them the 'Bash and Blast Bros.' I don't think they liked it."

Liara imagined they didn't like much of anything. The Mgalekgolo, as Kayap had called them, were devastatingly powerful and seemingly driven by rage. They had yet to kill one at all and she doubted that would change any time soon. With the bio-tech Thresher Maw armour added into them now, they had lost the only potential weakness they could exploit before they even knew about it. They'd need to find another way to kill them before they encountered those things again.

"Anyway, the sangheili are still pretty damn tough, regardless of how thick-headed they are," Nel warned. "So even if there are only a few, I'd still be careful."

After seeing Vorsa in action, Liara thought those were wise words of caution. These sangheili had proven to be tough opponents, more willing to die than any other enemy they had encountered previously. They were most certainly skilled enough already and, if they had picked up any tips from Nel's training, they'd be even more dangerous now. They were not going to be easy to defeat.

"But hey, it's nothing you guys can't handle, I'm sure," Nel assured her confidently.

"Why do you say that?" Liara asked, brow raised slightly.

"Well, you're Doctor Liara T'Soni with Urdnot Wrex tagging along for the ride," she replied succinctly. "You guys fought beside Commander 'Motherfucking' Shepard. You helped him take on a Citadel overflowing with synthies while a giant metal squid latched onto the Council Chambers Tower. A tower, I might add, you apparently decided to ascend on foot, on the outside, with said giant metal squid looking at you all the way. I mean, come on, what could beat you?"

If only Nelanax knew the whole truth of that day. That they had come so close to galactic extinction, that the "giant squid" she mentioned was only the first of many, that what seemed like a quick decisive win was only the first real battle of a war that no one knew they were already fighting. Liara could only assume the turian had bought into the vids that depicted the battle, that she was engrossed more in the legend than fact. Not that she was the only one that was, of course.

"I appreciate the praise, Nel," she said gratefully. "But really, as amazing as our exploits sound, we're not invincible. We won because we worked as a team."

"I hear ya," Nel assured her. "Still, it's pretty damn amazing that I'm actually serving alongside legends. If the assholes back in my old unit knew about this they'd be jealous as fuck. Especially so if they knew I'm going into a fight with Urdnot Wrex. That krogan is one major badass from what I've heard. How big is he exactly?"

Liara looked taken aback by the candid comment. She wondered if Nel meant what she was thinking she had meant.

"Excuse me?" She asked in kind.

"You know, how big is **it**?" Nel asked again, pointing down to between her legs. "What? You haven't seen it?"

"No," Liara answered flatly. "What makes you think I have?"

Nel looked a bit disappointed and confused at the same time.

"Oh," she said perplexed. "I guess I just figured you two had like, you know, done it."

Liara's eyes widened at the notion.

"That's ridiculous," she said rather flustered as she looked away from the turian. "Wrex and I have a very business oriented relationship. He's a good friend, that's all. Where would you get that idea?"

"Well, you are kinda smoking," Nel admitted plainly. "I'd probably go down on you myself to be honest. Factor in personal history, you two seem to enjoy each other's company, possibility of open relationships, that sort of stuff, it just seemed to make sense you two had done it. Of course, now that you got me wondering about it..."

Liara dreaded the next words to come out of Nel's mouth.

"He's single right?" Nel asked. "If I went after him you wouldn't hold me down and bash my head in or anything? Course, if you wanna hold me down in another way, I could dig that too."

Liara rolled her eyes at it all. She exhaled greatly as her previous dread appeared well founded.

"I would appreciate it if you kept your sexual appetite in check while aboard the _Lucen_ and when you're with this crew in general," she explained. "I don't have any problem with your preferred orientation, but-"

"Hey, I'm not exclusive ma'am," Nel tried to assure her rather quickly. "It's more about the act, the rush is all. I go for that more than anything. Sex is supposed to be fun, right? Limitations of any kind put a damper on that. And really, just because I don't care what gender you are doesn't mean I'm not still a lady."

After Nel said this, she took another huge swig of yet another beer, belched loudly, and then crushed the container against her head. She did it with such a peculiar looking grin on her face that Liara wondered if she was trying to intentionally mock her previous statement.

"There are many ways to be a girl," Liara admitted.

"Damn right, sister," Nel said proudly. "And there are just as many positions for a girl to be in too."

Nel laughed loudly at her joke, but Liara wasn't. She was fine with crude humour, but Nel still didn't seem to get the message.

"My point is," she began again. "Keep whatever sexual urges you have in check. I'm not saying you can't indulge, I'm just telling you that if it interferes with the mission we will have a problem."

"Yeah, yeah, same old song," Nel sighed. "I was in the military, I get it. Sorry if I freaked you out and shit, I guess I'm just a bit pent up and all. Haven't had any of the stimulation in awhile, it's a bit nerve wracking. You know how it gets."

Actually, she didn't know how it got. Liara had nothing against Nel's sexual openness, but she was still waiting for the right moment and the right person.

"Just find your..." Liara searched for the appropriate word. "Rush, I suppose, in some other activity."

"No worries, Doc," Nel promised with a salute. "This old girl can cope. Besides, putting a few rounds in some bad guys is just as satisfying. It's still a kind of penetration after all. And if that fails, I still got my vids and my closest companion."

Nel wiggled her talons slightly before she had her vid continue to play. As it did, Liara turned to back away, but her head snapped around when she heard a particularly brutal sound from the holoscreen. Slyvestrix's character had apparently stabbed a human in the skull. The blade had gone through one side and was now sticking out of the other.

"Mind if I pick your brain?" Slyvestrix's character asked.

Liara's brow rose at that one-liner, remembering those words. Vik had raised some concerns when they brought Nelanax aboard. He mentioned that she said that very line during the fight at Charlan.

"Didn't you use that quote back when Vorsa's men attacked?" She asked her.

"Oh yeah," Nel said nonchalantly. "You think I properly homage it? I wanted to add my own spin to it a bit. I think I said it in a lighter tone, a little bit more flighty and flirty perhaps."

Liara didn't answer her. She just left Nel to watch the rest of her vid. She couldn't say she was surprised by the revelation of where Nel got some of her "battle banter", but it certainly unnerved her. She decided her next course of action would be to check over the files she had been given.

Nelanax was more than likely withholding the truth from her or lying outright about a few things, but she wasn't lying about where she had served. She had been a Havoc soldier, the personnel file contained within the OSD proved it. The official seal of the Legionnaires was authentic. Several scans showed that the images and the file itself had never been altered. She had also indeed been on several missions if her cross-checking with the Hierarchy Military database was anything to go by.

As Nel said, however, the file contained nothing on her discharge. Liara imagined that was more her doing than anything. She was either hiding something or trying to avoid it. It was a huge gap in her background, one that made her a bit uneasy about trusting the turian outright.

If anything though, the files confirmed most of her suspicions about Nelanax. The record suggested she was "insubordinate", "reckless" and "lacked any respect for standard military doctrine." It even described several incidents where she solicited several soldiers on duty, both male and female. Liara wasn't surprised to hear that, nor was she surprised with some of the details about her missions.

One incident claimed she advanced ahead of her squad, breaking formation to chase after a secondary target, a well known Turian Separatist Leader, on her own. She succeeded in taking him down, but her actions nearly cost her squad their main objective, a group of hostages that the Separatists had taken. She clearly wished to mirror the Turian action heroes of her favourite vids. The file was loaded with rather reckless, stupid exploits that seemed to be right out of a vid. Most of them involved Nelanax either destroying private property in her pursuit of her target or disregarding orders to go off on her own.

Despite her behaviour, she routinely got assignment after assignment from her Company Commander. The file claimed she was proficient in all firearms, excelled in assault tactics and was "deadly efficient with bladed weapons." She was definitely someone she'd like on her side, but that didn't completely remove Liara's concerns from her mind.

Regardless, whatever luck Nel had possessed that kept her from getting her kicked out of her unit had inevitably ran out. That had lead to her seeking a new life as a mercenary. Liara imagined she preferred the lack of rules and responsibility. In many ways, she somewhat reminded her of Garrus before Shepard straightened him out. But even with Garrus, he did what he did out of a desire for justice. Nel seemed to do these things because she thought it was fun. Working with someone who thought of the mission as a game didn't sit well with Liara. It would've been easy to blame the overexposure of violent vids for the problem, but she knew better. There was something deeper to all of this.

"If it helps any," Wrex told her as he leaned against the wall in her room. "I can keep an eye on her. If she tries anything stupid I can rein her in."

Liara kept working on her terminal as she spoke to him. She still had to go over some potential intelligence before they attacked this base camp. She also wanted to review some of the footage from her personal camera she had embedded in her suit. She was studying Vorsa's fighting skills, trying to figure out how to better combat him and his warriors next they faced.

"I appreciate the offer, Wrex," Liara replied gratefully. "But I'm the person who will be leading her out there. I need her to listen to me. Otherwise this won't work. Besides, she'd probably enjoy whatever attention you give her anyway. She'd most likely think you were interested in her."

Wrex chuckled a little.

"Ha! The day I accept an advance from a turian is the day I cut off my quad," Wrex assured her, a slight grin appearing on his face.

"Well, good to hear then," Liara commended him rather hastily, her vision peering out of the corner of her eye for a brief second. "None of us can afford distractions right now... no matter how tempting. We can't encourage that kind of behaviour."

Wrex's brow rose a bit at the way Liara answered back. She probably sounded a lot more flustered than she had anticipated. The comment had briefly reminded her of some of the things Nelanax had said to her.

"What's the matter T'Soni?" Wrex suddenly asked, his grin growing wider. "You seem a bit put off by all this."

"I'm not, I just wish she was a bit more reserved is all," Liara told him. "Stopping Balak is too important right now to be thinking about, well, that."

Wrex laughed a little under his breath.

"As I recall, you didn't think that back on the first Normandy," Wrex reminded her.

"Yes, well, if you can recall that then you must remember how that didn't turn out the way I hoped," Liara reminded him, sounding rather uncomfortable with the way this conversation had turned. "I was just a bit overtaken with the excitement, nothing more."

"You were taken with someone," Wrex laughed.

Liara stopped typing for a moment and looked back at Wrex with an incredulous glare.

"Can we change topics, please?" She asked rather forcefully.

Wrex didn't say anything, but his smile vanished. Liara went back to her work. Another minute passed before Wrex spoke up again.

"Look," he said in a much more concerned and serious tone. "It didn't turn out the way you wanted. Getting put in the friend box by the first guy you were ever really interested in can't be easy. But you got a long life ahead of you... hundreds of years in fact."

"You don't need to give me the 'plenty of fish' speech, Wrex," Liara reminded him. "I was being stupid back then, I've accepted that."

"You sure about that?" He asked.

Liara turned to glare at him again and saw a concerned look on his face.

"Shepard filled me in on it. You did go out of your way to bring him back," Wrex reminded her. "Garrus didn't do that. Tali didn't do that. Williams didn't do that. I didn't do it and I didn't think he was dead."

"What are you trying to say, Wrex?" She asked, somewhat exasperated.

"I'm saying we tried to move on," Wrex informed her. "As close as we all were to Shepard, as sad as everyone was, as much as I denied it, you were the only one that couldn't get past it. You couldn't let go."

Liara looked away for a brief moment, contemplating Wrex's words. He was right, she couldn't let go. That was the problem in the end. Maybe she hadn't faced up to her motivations, but it didn't matter. He was alive again and she'd keep it that way, whatever it took.

"I never asked anything of him," Liara said aloud, although didn't sound like she was speaking to Wrex. "What's important is that we got him back. Now he needs our help again. That's all that matters now."

"If you say so," Wrex replied, sounding unconvinced.

Thankfully there was a knock on the door that stopped the conversation before it started up again. Liara didn't care who it was, barring Nelanax herself of course. If it got her mind as far away from her stupid mistakes aboard the first Normandy then it was a Goddess sent blessing.

She turned off the door lock and it slid open to reveal Vik'Sajee standing there rather meekly.

"Hey Doc," he greeted cheerfully. "I thought you might want an update on that project we discussed before."

Wrex pushed himself off the wall, his interested peaked at the word 'project' no doubt.

"What's this about?" He asked.

"Just upgrading the suit of our original defector," Vik replied. "I was able to grab some parts during the fighting back in Charlan before we had to bolt. There's still room for improvement, but at least the main problems in the original design have been fixed."

Vik turned around and motioned his hand towards someone. Waddling into Liara's room, Kayap was soon revealed in his new combat harness. Now coloured in blue, the bulky methane tank had been replaced with a more compact one that fit along his back in a streamline fashion. In addition to no longer being as big a target, the harness also covered Kayap's body more effectively. New forearm pads and armoured gauntlets covered what were recently exposed limbs. What were once bare feet were now covered up in military-grade boots, far more comfortable than walking around with naked toes on whatever terrain you happened to be stuck with. Besides more durability, they also offered better grip.

As for Kayap's mask, it had been altered. It now covered his head more effectively, a proper helmet that sported a set of orange-tinted portholes that covered his eyes. Liara looked more closely and noticed that one of the lenses had a targeting system of some kind covering the eye.

Vik tapped one of the eyeholes with his finger.

"Standard quarian biosuit visor glass," he said. "It's built for durability and protection. Nothing less than a rifle round is gonna pierce this. Even then, it will have to get by the shield I installed into the harness. Even if they take that down, he now has a ceramic reinforced torso plate. Had to take a few extra suits apart and shape them down to his size, but I managed."

Vik walked over to Kayap's pack and patted it.

"Reinforced the tank here too," he added. "It will take several direct hits before anyone manages to puncture the shell. The material is designed to reclose around the impact sight. The tanks themselves are individually separate from the protective layer. It should give him more time in the field before he needs a re-fill and should he ever require one..."

Vik pulled out what looked to be gas container and plugged into a port on the bottom of the methane pack. There was the sound of gas escaping into its new home as Vik held down it slightly.

"Instant re-fill," he declared, standing upright again. "We just need to keep these containers handy. I'm working on a possible methane rebreather for him to increase his pack capacity, but for now this should be good enough."

"So why blue?" Wrex asked.

Liara gave him a bit of a look when he said that so bluntly. Wrex quickly corrected himself.

"Blue is fine! Wonderful even, you make it work," he stated quickly. "I'm just wondering why blue."

"Well, I figured since she's the boss and everything," Vik began sheepishly. "His suit should reflect that. Plus it's the only colour he says the other unggoy don't wear on their armour. It should help him stand out in a fight enough that we don't accidentally shoot him."

Kayap jumped a little at that thought, Vik quickly calmed him down.

"It's okay, buddy," he said. "That won't happen now, not when you blend in with us more."

Liara bent down a little to get a better look at Kayap.

"How does the new harness feel?" She asked him.

"Suited One smart," Kayap answered. "Armour feel more tough. Bit harder to move with more stuff on, but me get used to it."

Liara smiled at that and stood back up to look at Vik with a generous smile.

"You did a good job, Sajee," she told him. "Thanks, and do keep me posted on how we're doing on making his room more methane-breathing friendly."

Vik was a bit bashful at the praise and rubbed the back of his neck a little.

"Aww, it was nothing," he assured her, sounding rather coy. "I was just trying to help a fellow downtrodden species, that's all. I mean, after seeing how his former fascist boss treated his people, I felt it was the least I could do."

While Liara's pride at Vik's success continued to beam, Wrex stepped in quickly by coughing aloud, bringing their attention to him.

"Well we're gonna get to try out your improvements soon, quarian." He told Vik. "Remember, we're headed to that training camp our new friend has pointed out for us."

Vik looked a little less happy about that reminder. He looked to Liara rather concerned.

"You really think we should trust the 'Walking Vid Trailer' on this?" He asked. "I mean, she seems a little unstable."

Wrex laughed when Vik said that.

"Says the quarian on medication," he mumbled.

The quarian stared at Wrex, rather irritated by the comment. Liara elbowed him slightly for the comment and quickly answered Vik's statement. Wrex may have had a point about Vik calling the kettle black, but it wouldn't do any good to bring it up.

"She is our best lead for the moment, Vik," Liara explained. "We need to keep after the Covenant and the batarians. If we let up, they're going to regain the momentum we've cost them so far."

"Fair enough," Vik admitted. "I just don't trust that turian, you know."

"Oh yeah, that's a shock," Wrex muttered.

This time Vik was able to say something in response before Liara could divert his attention.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked.

"Just that you don't exactly trust a lot of people in general," Wrex clarified. "For the record, I'm a bit hesitant to do the same with the turian. It's just you telling me you don't trust someone is like me telling you a thresher maw smells as bad on the inside as the out. It's not really that surprising."

Vik seemed to lessen his glare a bit after that, but Wrex had still touched a nerve.

"Well, I guess we'll find out if we can trust the mercenary soon enough, huh?" He presumed. "I better get back down to the _Truth_ then. I have some things to board and a bit of personal research to do. I've recently acquired a video depicting an as of yet unseen ritual performed by the Highest Universal Order of One Fraternity. It was taken undercover from inside one of their underwater lodges based on Kahje. And you know Hanar secret religious orders. They have a lot of crazy handshakes, what with all the tentacles and everything. I need to catalogue it all and post it up quick."

Liara let him go and Kayap just bid a simple farewell as he waddled back to his own room. Wrex just stared on in bemusement at it all. Liara gave him a bit of look.

"You could stand to be a bit more sensitive," she told him. "He's got a condition."

"Yeah, and the prescription is a swift kick to his skull to get it sorted out," Wrex argued in kind. "We need to be careful around that guy, Liara. As much as that turian is holding back, we know even less about him."

Wrex may have had a point, but he was still valuable to them. For now, she could look over Vik's reluctance to share his past so long as he pulled his weight. And he most certainly was pulling his weight so far.

"All you knew about me when we first met was that I was the daughter of one of Saren's allies," she reminded him. "You still vouched for me joining the Normandy because you saw that my biotics could be useful. I appreciated your confidence in me then and I think Vik would appreciate you trying to show some confidence in him now. If you try to be more welcoming to Vik, maybe he'll let you find out more about him."

Wrex sighed greatly at last.

"I only endure this crazy crap because we're friends, you know that right?" He asked her.

Liara only smiled knowingly. Wrex was a good man, and an even greater friend, even though they both tended to get on each other's nerves. She just hoped somehow she'd be able to instil the same kind of camaraderie among her new crew.

* * *

**August 2****nd****, 2185**

Liara had assembled everyone in the briefing room. They were standing around a rectangular holographic display table. It was currently showing them a layout of the training camp Nelanax had been assisting at. It was hidden in the central shaft of an old abandoned mining facility. It was out of the range of the _Lucen's_ scanners, hidden deep underground and well-fortified.

From what Nel described, the camp had two distinct areas. One section had been set aside for administrative purposes and sleeping quarters. It was also where the main armoury was located. The second section was the main training area itself, complete with a shooting range, obstacle course and mock-ups for full-fledged training scenarios. To get to either section, however, one would have to traverse the various mining tunnels that stretched out like tendrils through the mountainside.

"Once we get to the camp, we'll have a lot more fighting room," Nel explained as she pointed at the holographic map. "Until then, the tunnels are the biggest problem. It's like a maze down there."

The hologram itself was derived from old mining company survey data and Nel's own account of the changes the Swords had made to it. She unfortunately did not have a complete picture of the area outside the main shaft. The tunnels branched off and twisted so much that there didn't appear to be a straight shot towards the camp itself.

"There has to be a faster way," Liara reasoned, looking over the diagram carefully. "This old mine shaft has to have a main access lift. It would be inefficient to get the materials out through those side entrances dotting the mountain."

"Actually, there is an access lift," Nel admitted, she then pointed up to the top of the mountain with her talon. "It's in this depression near the peak. It drops straight down into the main shaft where the main training area is. I never used it though. They made me walk through the tunnels, did the same with the trainees. The lift was only used to bring in higher ranked officers, like Trox, or equipment they needed to store. I never saw what they were carting in, but I assumed it was mostly guns."

"Then that's our entrance," Liara decided, eyeing it unflinchingly. "We take the lift, we head down pretending to be a shipment and then we take the camp."

Nel grinned at the plan.

"Ah, cut out the previews and get onto the main event, I like it," she stated excitedly.

Vik rolled his eyes at her words.

"You would," Liara thought she heard him mutter.

Nelanax didn't hear him, she kept talking instead.

"They may have some guards keeping an eye on the lift though," she warned. "But I guess with this ship we can just bombard them to shit. Or we can take one of those shuttles down there and rake them with turret fire. Either way should work."

"Saya can probably handle the access lift's guards," Liara informed her, less than thrilled with her suggestions. "A dive bomb attack or direct assault will only run the risk warning the Swords inside that something is up."

Nel's shoulders sank a little at the news, seemingly disappointed at the lack of action in the opening stage of the fight.

"Well, at least we'll get to shoot things after that boring part is over with," she reasoned.

Vik had more pressing concerns.

"We're going to be exposed on that lift all the way down," he informed them as he looked at the lift on the hologram. "How are we going to avoid getting shredded before we reach ground level?"

"We'll have to land the shuttles on the pad and ride them down," Liara presumed. "They'll be our only method of practical cover. Once we're on the ground floor, we can jump out and attack them. They may be suspicious seeing the shuttles headed down into the base, but they won't assume we're the enemy until the doors open and we pour out."

"We'll need to expect a welcoming party then," Wrex told her. "They'll be waiting by the lift's door for us. I trust all of us are going to be prepared to shoot them first."

Wrex's question sounded like it was being spoken to everyone in general, but he was staring at one person in particular. Kayap was soon caught in the spotlight of everyone's gaze as they all turned to him. Liara looked at Wrex, slightly upset by the way he had singled the unggoy out.

"Wrex," she started.

But Wrex was prepared to defend himself on this one.

"The people in there are going to consist of a number of unggoys, his people. Last time we almost got gutted because he tried to talk them down," he reminded them all. "We know how that turned out. So I gotta ask here, is he ready to kill them if it comes down to it? Cause if not, then we should just leave him up here."

Liara looked to Kayap. She could see he was bothered by the idea, but he slowly nodded his head and looked up at her.

"Me can do it," he assured her. "Me can fight. Don't want to, but will for new leader and crew."

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," Liara informed him kindly.

Nelanax quickly interjected herself into the conversation.

"Hey, if he can't do the job maybe he should stay up here," she said with a growl. "There are bad guys down there after all. He should be ready to pull the trigger or stay home."

"Well that's easy for you to say," Vik retorted. "None of those bad guys are turians. Would you be so willing to head in there if we were killing your kind?"

"I've killed Sepies, quarian," Nel argued. "Don't lecture me about killing other turians. If anyone should be asked that question it's you. Would you have my back if the guy shooting me was a quarian?"

"That would depend on why he was shooting you," Vik snapped back at her.

Nel glared at the quarian across from her before turning to Saya Empa.

"What do you think Ninja Frog?" She asked. "You think we should let a scared little gas sucker watch our backs?"

Saya responded with a rather aloof turn of his head, he didn't seem to care one way or the other about the subject.

"Well, whatever, point is I know whose side I'm on," Nel continued to argue.

"Says the gung-ho mercenary who is now telling us how to kill her former pupils," Vik responded irritably.

"Cute, quarian," Nel snapped back. "I told you all, I'm doing this because they lied to me and voided my contract restraints."

"No, you're doing this because you think it's going to fun shooting up your former employers," Vik corrected her. "At least Kayap has some moral quandaries about killing his possible former friends. You just can't wait to start spilling their blood in some bullet frenzied fantasy."

Nelanax just laughed back at him.

"Well excuse me for taking pride in my work and showing a little enthusiasm," she told him bitterly. "I suppose you're gonna be like your little friend there and try and talk out your feelings with them?"

"I'm going to do what I can for this crew, that's how I was raised," Vik replied. "I wasn't raised to take joy in killing other things is all. So don't you question my commitment to this ship."

"Why not?" Nel asked him. "You're questioning mine. So I worked with the bad guys. They lied to me and I'm with you now, isn't that enough?

"You helped make them more dangerous," Vik shot back. "You only defected because you got bored with them. Why shouldn't I be concerned about that?"

Saya shook his head at the whole scene, but did nothing to try and stop it. He just looked at both Vik and Nel, seemingly with contempt, and went back to trying to block them out. That may have been an option for him, but not for Liara. She quickly slammed her open palm onto the display table and silenced both of them.

"We are a team now," she reminded them. "Bickering about loyalties is not conducive to that. Vik, Nel is now working with us, end of story. You may not like her motivations for it, but that's how it is. Nel, Kayap is coming with us, there is no debate on that. He's already put his life on the line for us before, I doubt that has changed. I expect every single one of you to do the same for each other."

That stopped their arguing, but the cracks were still there. The little glares the two gave each other were more than evident. Saya had completely tuned out both of them himself, not caring for either side's position as he closed himself off from the group. Nel mumbled something under her breath towards Vik.

"Wet bucket," she said grumbling.

Liara saw Vik head turn towards her violently, but she stopped him before he said anything else.

"Enough," she told them both firmly. "Back to the plan, we get in through the lift and we start clearing the training section out before moving on to the personnel area. Once there, we need to cut them off from the armoury and finish them off. My ShadowNet squads and Wrex's krogan will help us clear out the section quickly. We need to work fast and as a team, understand?"

Everyone nodded, but Liara was still unsure. She told them all go off to prepare for the mission. She and Wrex stayed in the briefing room.

"I'm not exactly sure which one is more screwed up in the head," he said. "The turian who thinks she's in an action vid or the quarian who probably thinks his lunch is plotting against him. And then there's the Loner Salarian. We sure know how to pick up a team, huh?"

"It takes time to forge a squad's cohesiveness," Liara informed him. "We just need to help them learn it."

It wouldn't be easy. Nelanax was violent and reckless. Vik was paranoid, highly medicated and delusional. Kayap wasn't particularly adept in combat and was arguably the weakest of them. Saya's professionalism was contrasted by his disdain for the other members of the team. Liara just wasn't sure if she could handle all of them together. She wasn't Shepard, but she was the next best thing right now.

* * *

Saya was ultimately fine with being sent alone on this. There would be a lot less dead weight for one. Also, he wouldn't have to suffer the krogan nor listen to mercenary and the conspiracy nut bicker. Of course, that would end as soon as the lift was clear of enemies. He'd make the most of the silence while he still had it.

They had inserted him about a mile away from the lift proper. The shuttle didn't land on the incredibly rocky terrain of the mountain top. He just leapt down while it hovered above. He then made progress towards his intended target while Doctor T'Soni kept the shuttles in a holding pattern above the clouds and out of range of any potential electronic detection. Once he gave the all clear, they'd come back down for a landing on the access lift.

Saya reached his target not long after. The lift was rather sparse in terms of guards. There was one small hut along the eastern side of the lift, facing towards him. It appeared to be a standard excavation company living quarters. It had obviously been built on site from pre-assembled parts shipped to the top of the mountain, welded together and then abandoned along with the mine. Now it had been repurposed for the guards to get out of the sun for awhile.

Taking a look around the lift from his perch in the rocks, he could spy one krogan walking the perimeter with a vorcha. Two more batarians were doing the same. As he watched the patrols, one of the batarians headed into the hut. Unable to see inside, Saya couldn't assume he was the only one now in there. He'd need to be careful when he cleared it.

The first target he'd go for would be the krogan. He was the biggest threat after all. Then again, when weren't they? The vorcha beside him would probably be next, as they didn't stray far from each other. He'd clear the hut last, after dealing with the batarian still outside. With any luck, this would go relatively smoothly.

There wasn't much cover besides the rocks surrounding the access lift, so he'd have to rely on his cloak more. Once activated, he careful crept up to his first kill. Invisible to all, he watched and waited for the krogan and vorcha to separate. He'd need them to be out of eyesight from each other, as well as the batarian.

It didn't take long, the vorcha soon left him to go behind a couple of containers on the west side of the lift. The krogan remained out in the open though, in full view of the batarian near the hut. So again, Saya waited. The krogan moved to the north of the lift, slightly covered by a rusting piece of mining equipment. It probably used to be some kind of cargo hauler, but that was of little concern. Now that he was separated, he could be taken out.

Saya climbed up the decaying wreck to get above the kogan. The easiest way to kill their kind was to aim for the back of the neck. The reason for this was rather practical. You risked giving the enemy the chance to warn their friends if you didn't kill them quickly. However, with the krogan's notorious durability, that was a lot harder to do.

Because their hides were so thick in the first place, cutting through there was hard. You had to hope you hit a critical organ or artery if you wanted them to die quickly. Otherwise, they'd belch out a final call to arms before they passed. Your best chance was to go for the least protected part of their body, their neck. The intention was to get them to bleed out as fast as possible, as there were plenty of critical arteries there. Also, you kept them from sounding the alarm by removing their ability to speak.

Needless to say, Saya enjoyed the poetic sense of justice.

The best way to get a shot at the neck was from above and behind. So whenever he got that opportunity, Saya took it. He brought out his sword and then leapt onto his prey. The krogan probably felt the salarian land on his hump, but by then it was too late. Saya's blade was already deep into the krogan's neck and was poking out his jugular. The salarian held on by the cusp of the krogan's armour surrounding his hump.

The dumb giant lizard dropped his gun and tried to push the tip of Saya's sword out from whence it came. Seeing that this particular krogan wasn't dying nearly as fast, Saya activated the Shiakala's electrical current and let the shock course through his target's body.

The tactic did its job, and was quiet enough not to alert attention. The krogan dropped to his knees. As he did though, his body turned slightly the left. Saya now saw the Vorcha's shadow approaching from behind the containers just a few meters away. In a few minutes, he'd be exposed to the ugly little alien.

Quickly, the salarian pulled out his suppressed pistol and pointed it at the incoming Vorcha. He still held onto the krogan, grasping at the hilt of his sword as the stupid sack of meat lurched around. The vorcha came around the corner, just in time for Saya to fire a silent round right into his eye. For good measure, Saya followed it up with a second shot, just make sure the vorcha went down, their regenerative healing factor was as bad as the krogan's after all. The vorcha fell to the ground and the krogan stopped moving. Saya pulled his sword out and reactivated his cloak. He then moved into position for his third kill.

The only one outside now was a lone batarian. They were certainly a lot easier to deal with as opposed to vorcha or krogans. They didn't have that annoying as hell healing factor for one. He carefully snuck up behind the batarian as he looked out onto the desolate landscape of the planet before him. A shame he'd die looking at such a dirtball.

Saya got close to the batarian. Then, with one quick thrust, he punched his sword through the batarian's stomach. The four-eyed alien lurched forward in pain. Saya pulled the sword out and quickly slashed towards the batarian's neck. The blade cut clean through, separating the batarian's body from his head. Saya flicked the blood off of his sword and then moved to the door of the hut itself.

The door remained unlocked. He expected, more what with the camp supposedly on high alert. Perhaps they didn't think anyone would be fool enough to attempt to enter the base through here. Once inside he saw a number of sleeping cots, some open lockers, a terminal on a small desk and another door. He could hear voices behind it.

"If they're so sure we're gonna get hit, why aren't we evacuating?" Spoke one voice.

"We don't exactly have a big enough ship to get us all off this rock for one," answered another. "They're sending someone, but all our ships are pretty far out securing other stations and projects. They don't know how much they got away with exactly. They can't check with law enforcement turning over the entire lab after all. For all we know, we're last on their list of things that need to die. Besides, this is the biggest training camp we have outside of Hegemony space. We can't afford to just leave it, especially with what we got inside."

"And what if we are on this asari's list?" The person from before enquired.

Saya was more than happy to provide the answer. He spread the explosive gel along the sides of the door and stepped back. He then pressed down on the hilt and the door blew in on itself. Saya rushed in after the breach. He found one batarian dead from the explosion and another trying get the remains of the door off of him. Saya kicked the scrap of metal off him and then stabbed him through the head with his blade, the batarian holding up his arms in a futile attempt to stop him. Saya pulled his blade out and then activated a command on his omni-tool, signalling the all clear for T'Soni.

So much for his solitude, but at least he got to silence a krogan mercenary in the process. With any luck, there would be more down inside the mountain he could do the same to.

* * *

The access lift was big enough to support two shuttles. A good thing considering how much space krogan took up. Wrex was in the second shuttle with his men, while Liara stayed in the first with her Shadow Operatives, Vik, Kayap and Nelanax.

When they saw Saya activate the signal, Liara had the pilot land. When they touched down on the lift, the doors open wide and Saya walked into Liara's shuttle. He pushed himself in between Liara and Vik. The salarian had activated the lift prior to his entry, so they were already on the way down. The doors to the shuttle shut tight once more and Liara activated external cameras to keep an eye on their progress to the ground floor.

"This is so cool," said Nel rather excitedly. "It's just like that scene in 'Talon Strike Force 2' when they're about to make that drop in the middle of a Separatist stronghold. Course, the main characters' shuttle gets shot down and they have to do a crash landing, but when the doors open up it will be pretty much the same camera angle, with the bullets whizzing in and everything."

"You do realise that the bullets will be real, right?" Vik asked her. "I wouldn't be that excited over the prospect of getting shot."

Nel stuck out her tongue at the quarian.

"Yeah, yeah, Wet Bucket, I get it, you have a shitty immune system and everything," she said lightly mocking him. "Don't worry, your position as the scared little techie guarantees you'll be shot in the head the moment the doors open. So you'll die quickly instead of coughing and wheezing from infection."

"That is not how it works," Vik barked back at her. "Besides, getting shot period is not something to look forward to. I don't understand how you're so blissfully unaware of the danger."

"Well it helps I'm not a wimpy little quarian," Nel told him with a smirk. "And I've been shot before, plenty of times. It doesn't hurt as much as you think. Kinda tickles actually."

Liara caught their attention with a simple cough.

"This is serious," Liara reminded them. "Remember, if we're going to make it out of this alive we need to work as a unit and together. When the doors open, I'm going to toss out a wide biotic attack that will knock anyway outside off their feet. When that happens, we move in and secure the lift area. Your enthusiasm is appreciated Nel, but this is real, not a vid."

"Which makes it better," Nel stated jubilantly, Liara's point going right over her head. "How many vids let you actually control the action? Just experimental ones and those things are all artsy and crap. Never enough explosions either."

Liara would've clarified her statements, but there was no time. The rocky walls that appeared on the exterior cameras were soon replaced with an open shaft. Liara could see a shooting range below, and several mock-ups of buildings and structures nearby.

"Are those the scenario courses you mentioned?" She asked Nel as she pointed to one of the mock-ups.

"Sure are," the turian answered with something of a proud grin on her face. "I had the trainees run drills on them. None of them managed to beat my best time though, forty-seven seconds or less on the first shoot house we built. Wasn't my best though, could've done it way faster. For example, we used to have a cruiser bridge mock-up that I completed in thirty."

"You're such a humble war hound, Nelanax," Vik stated with a sardonic sneer.

The turian ignored him and kept giving an eye towards Liara.

"I still got my helmet cam-footage from my runs," she said with a sultry tone. "I look damn badass all the way. Maybe if you have some time later I can show'em to ya, Doc. You just name the place."

Liara cringed again at the awkward advance on her person. Vik, however, looked at the turian rather surprised, Nel's demeanour not lost on him.

"Is this seriously the time for that?" Vik asked her. "I mean, really?"

"Don't be jealous just because I didn't hit on you, Wet Bucket," Nel told him harshly, but suddenly her tone returned to a flirtatious one. "Although I'm not averse to making it a threesome, I guess."

"Yeah, no," Vik was quick to reply. "I make it a habit not to date homicidal maniacs."

"Damn, you guys are tough nuts to crack," Nel observed, looking despondent at them all. "What's a girl gotta do to get some action on this cruise?"

The lift suddenly stopped dead. Everyone jumped up and pointed their guns towards the shuttle door. Liara raised her fist, letting the energy flow around her hand. As a blue aurora formed around her finger tips, the shuttle door began to open.

The door was half-way up before she spotted their first enemies, two kig-yar, three batarians and three vorcha. She released her biotic energy and let it strike the assorted soldiers standing nearby. The biotic attack sent them all flying backwards and everyone rushed out of the shuttle and into the fight.

"You wanted action, Nelanax," Liara told the turian.

"Still would've preferred sex," she shrugged. "This will do for now though."

With a hearty battle cry, Nelanax raced off into the fight with her assault rifle blazing. The Shadow Operatives were already in the field and Liara was right behind them with Vik, Kayap and Saya by her side. Wrex's men were moving past them as well, firing their weapons at the assorted Covenant and batarians around the lift that were now seeking shelter where they could find it.

Nelanax set one batarian ablaze with her incendiary ammo mod. Vik laid down suppression fire with the use of his little sentry turret that nipped at the heels of retreating kig-yar. Kayap fired quick little shots from his needle gun, catching one vorcha in the back enough times to cause him to erupt in a blast of pink mist. Saya had joined in with the other Shadow Operatives to scatter the enemy forces with his pistol. In the meantime, Wrex's krogans began to spread out, chasing after the various defenders as they pulled back.

They had achieved the element of surprise and had created a small perimeter around the lift. They were still under fire from various positions, however. In addition, besides a few scattered rock outcroppings, there wasn't much in the way of cover around the lift. They would need to press the attack quickly, before the residents of the camp regrouped for a counter-attack.

"We need to keep up this momentum," Liara informed the others. "Wrex, pair your krogan off into teams with my people. You take Kayap towards the shooting range."

"Fine, but he better pull his weight," Wrex told her. "I'm no babysitter."

"He'll be fine, just take him!" Liara demanded.

Wrex looked to the unggoy with a bit of a scowl.

"Those pink needles better not end up in my ass," he warned.

Kayap just nodded his head up and down rapidly and the two took off together. As more fire poured onto their position, Liara turned to Vik and Saya.

"I want you two to pair off and hit one of those scenario courses," she ordered them. "Try that one to the left."

Liara pointed to what looked like a large two story building with a balcony overlooking the area. They couldn't let the enemy establish some kind of high ground up there. As Vik gave it a once over, he thought it looked suspiciously familiar. It had what appeared to be a set of tables with an umbrella over them on the balcony. It also had fake painted on sign along the side of the building. The sign itself had been painted to make it look like the letters on it were neon lights.

"Doesn't it look a little like the top half of a high rise hotel to you?" He asked over the blazing gun fire.

"Not now," Liara told him. "Just take it."

Vik and Saya finally nodded and made a move for the mock-up. Liara then looked over to Nelanax.

"We got the second mock up course," she told her. "Let's move!"

"Right behind your sweet little blue ass, Doc," Nel said with a wink.

"And Vik is right," Liara quickly added. "Stop that!"

Liara ran off first, barely able to hear the slight scoff from the turian. She followed the asari regardless, what else was she going to do?

* * *

Wrex and Kayap made their way over to the shooting range, where two Shadow Operatives and one Urdnot krogan were already holding their own. They were taking cover along the side of the end closest to the lift, the metal walls shielding them from bullets. Wrex slid in beside them while Kayap dove for cover.

"Two of those shield-carrying guys, three batarians and one big ass krogan with a bad ass weapon," the human Shadow Operative told Wrex. "I think it's a Striker."

As the human finished the sentence there was an explosion along the range just a few feet away from their position of cover.

"Yeah that's a Striker Assault Rifle alright," he concurred. "I'd bet my tail it's straight from Tuchanka, courtesy of Kercheka."

"Do you think they moved the whole shipment here, Clan Leader?" The Urdnot warrior asked as he reloaded his gun.

"Don't be stupid," Wrex lightly scolded him. "Balak wouldn't have sent all of Strikers here, just enough for his people to train with. I'm betting the bulk of the shipment went to his other units. But at least we can remove one of them from the equation."

Another explosion rocked the range, this time dead center on their cover. The Blood Pack was getting better aim by the second.

"He's the biggest problem," he told them. "We need to take him down fast if we have any hope of taking this range."

"Going out there is suicide," warned the turian Shadow Operative. "One of us tried to advance along the range before you got here. That black spot out there on the second firing line is him."

"Then you'll move up behind me," Wrex told him. "My barriers can take that kind of punishment. I'll knock him on his ass and give you all time to push up. Let me draw his fire, focus on his friends."

Everyone agreed by nodding and waiting for Wrex's go. When Wrex turned to Kayap, the methane breather was uncharacteristically calm as he looked up at him. His needle gun was in hand and, from all appearances, fully loaded.

"Just stay behind me okay," Wrex told him earnestly. "I don't want Liara blaming me for you getting killed."

He didn't like that he had been stuck with the unggoy. He knew why he had though. Liara wasn't sure about pairing off Nelanax with him for some reason and she wanted to keep an eye on her. Out of all the crew members on the ship, Kayap was probably the one he had the least problems with. He didn't enjoy being the babysitter, but he wasn't about to let the poor thing die.

"We take them together," Kayap stated, although it was hard to tell if the sudden bravado was genuine or just a show for Wrex. Either way, he seemed ready.

Wrex activated his barrier, covering his body in a protective biotic shield. He then vaulted over the cover and fired a stream of rounds from his assault rifle. As expected, he managed to get the defenders to put their heads down.

The Blood Pack krogan refused to do so, however. He fired off another three shots from his Striker. The blasts fell around Wrex, one hitting him square in the center. It hurt, but the barrier had absorbed the shot. While the smoke cleared, Wrex pulled out his shotgun and readied a carnage shot. He fired one blast that rocketed across the shooting range and slammed into the enemy krogan. It was unlikely that he had died from that, but at least he was down.

Wrex vaulted over the wall to the second firing line. He tossed a few biotic throws into the fray, sending one batarian into the side wall of the firing range he was in. As he tried to climb over it to the safety of the next firing line's cover, he was taken down by fire from one of the Shadow Operatives.

Wrex kept moving, the others following him as he did. He had to duck down as the kig-yar set their sights on him, their plasma bolts coming close to hitting him. Lucky for Wrex, he had other methods of dealing with the little pyjaks. He stood up and threw out a pull attack. It circled around to their sides and lifted them into the air. They were easy prey for his fellow krogan to shoot down.

With the plasma guns out of the picture, Wrex was free to move forward. He wasn't entirely sure if his barriers could stand up against an actual energy weapon for long. He managed to get close enough to the enemy lines that the next time he vaulted he landed on top of one of the batarians. It took a single hit from his powerful biotically charged fist to end him. H watched as one of the Shadow Operatives caught the last batarian with a clean three hits from his assault rifle.

It was then the Blood Pack krogan finally grew bold enough to rise once more and fight. Wrex managed to get to cover before the rifle's blast could catch him. With his barriers low, a direct hit at this range would cripple him for a good while. He was close enough now that he felt he could take the mercenary though. So he jumped up again, shotgun in hand, to end it.

But the Blood Pack merc fired first, and while he didn't land a direct hit, the blast was close enough that it knocked Wrex off his aim. His shot went wide and Wrex hurried to train his sights on his target again. As he did, several needles flew across the field and struck the Blood Pack krogan in the face. The mercenary went to dig the little spikes out of his head, only for them to explode. The blast that followed ripped through the krogan's armour, blowing his helmet off. Wrex turned to see Kayap beside him, his needle gun trained on their shared target.

"Take together?" He asked again.

Wrex just smiled back.

"Yeah, why not," he said shrugging back.

As the krogan stood back up to fire once more, his smoking face now visible, Kayap fired again. Wrex assisted him, shooting a hole through the enemy krogan's shoulder. Kayap's shots stuck into the merc's freshly exposed skin and detonated shortly after in a huge mist of pink. This time, the krogan stayed down for good.

"Nice shooting," Wrex congratulated.

Kayap just happily nodded at Wrex in response.

* * *

Saya entered first, sword in one hand, pistol in the other. Vik followed close behind, shotgun prepared and omni-tool primed. He knew he probably looked feeble next to the black armoured STG super-agent with the awesome sword. He thought that maybe Doctor T'Soni put them together because their close quarter preferences complemented each other. Although she could've easily just thought the salarian was better at this than he was and he'd have less of a chance getting killed. Either way, he just didn't want to get snuffed out in here this mine shaft, so he'd follow the sword wielding amphibian's lead.

Vik looked around where they had entered and noticed the place looked a little like a hotel lobby. It had little couches, a front desk and down the hall were series of doors on either side. Yeah, this definitely looked like a hotel mock-up to him. Why would the Swords need this? To plan an attack on some big shot target who was living in a penthouse? Maybe a head of state they wanted removed on orders from their slave-driving asshole leaders?

"This is definitely a hotel," he voiced aloud. "I mean, shit, it looks like one."

Saya didn't answer, but Vik sensed he was listening.

"You think they're preparing them for some kind of raid?" He asked. "You know, to take a bunch of hostages and stuff."

Saya looked back and nodded once, showing he at least agreed.

"Some of those other scenario courses looked pretty complex, like a ton of mock up buildings," Vik continued. "They must be trying to cover as many bases as they can. Nelanax said they used to have one for the bridge of a ship. They can probably just build new courses out of pieces of old ones whenever they want. It's an impressive set-up, for a bunch of evil slaving Hegemony dipshits."

Saya stared at Vik. He recognized the glare, even without a face to see. Being a quarian, he had gotten used to body language. Perhaps Saya knew that and figured Vik would pick up on his desire for him to be quiet now. So Vik shut up and let Saya scan the area a little.

Saya looked to each of the doors individually and then back to Vik. He motioned to the first door on the right and moved up. Vik followed, shotgun pointed forward. Saya got on one side of the door and spread his explosive gel across the lock. Vik obliged with a nod and activated a sentry to watch their backs.

Saya then detonated the lock and, once the blast had dissipated, forced the door open. He pushed it aside, pointing his gun into the room. There was a single bed facing them, popping up from behind it was a batarian. Next to him was an unggoy. Saya fired a shot that took out the unggoy while Vik fired off a burst from his shotgun that took out the batarian.

It was then the door behind them and across the hall suddenly burst open. Behind it was another batarian. The sentry gun locked onto him and pumped him full of lead before he could move. Saya turned and fired one clean shot into the batarian, taking him down quickly.

The paper thin walls of the small room suddenly burst open. Two unggoy in the room over had thrown their plasma grenades into it. The hole now gave them a perfect view of both Saya and Vik, forcing them to dive for cover under a coffee table they needed to topple over. The plasma blasts burned away at the poor cover. If this kept up they would both be exposed again soon. They had to think of something quickly.

"I could send my drone over there," Vik suggested.

Saya said nothing, as usual. Then he just vanished underneath his cloak before Vik's eyes.

"Hey! Don't leave me here!" Vik shouted, panicking slightly. "Doc says we need to be a team, remember?"

Saya hadn't left Vik, however. The salarian had just decided to get closer to the unggoy. The next time Vik saw him, the salarian was using his sword to slice into the head one of the little gas suckers before cutting into the neck of the other. He moved so fast, the unggoys didn't even know he was there.

Vik stood up from his cover and marched over to the STG Agent.

"You know, you could've told me the plan," Vik chastised hm.

Saya just gave him another thousand yard stare. The salarian then pointed to his neck and shook his head.

"Well, you can talk in other ways, right?" Vik asked. "Sign language and all that. Communication, it's kinda important."

Saya seemed to brush off the quarian's statement without much thought. He went off towards the stairs at the back of the hall. When Vik caught up to him, Saya was pointing towards the door of the last room they had yet to clear. Vik decided to activate a drone this time to help them out. He pressed up against the frame as Saya set the explosive gel along the door's edge. He detonated the door, blasting it inward. Then, charging out of the smoke, appeared a sangheili.

He took a swing at Vik, forcing him to duck. Saya slashed downward with his sword, but the eight-foot alien caught it in his grip. It must've hurt like hell, but Vik didn't see the alien flinch. Saya activated the sword's electrical current, shocking the sangheili. The Covie just fought through the painful shock, however, and kicked the Salarian back. The attack had a consequence though, as it caused Saya's sword to slice the big alien's hand open.

The sangheili clamped together his talon, pain readily apparent on his face. It distracted him long enough for Vik to pump a few shotgun rounds into his body. The alien's shields must've short circuited from Saya's attack, because nothing seemed to get in the way of Vik rounds. The quarian's drone let out a charge of energy to finish off the alien, and his desiccated corpse fell to the floor.

Vik rushed over to Saya to help him up, but the salarian rejected his helping hand. He instead pushed himself up, his sword acting like a prop.

"Uh, good teamwork," Vik said, trying to be friendly.

Vik saw Saya nod at that, and he felt it was genuine. They still had another floor to clear though, so they both moved up the steps to the next floor. Again, Vik let Saya take point. As they went up the stairs, a batarian fired down on them from above. The ambush didn't faze Saya, as he just charged up the steps, avoiding the shots from the batarian's rifle, before stabbing him clean through the heart. Vik kept behind him as best he could, but Saya was already pushing ahead without him.

In front of the salarian were two kig-yar fighters, their shields blocking the way forward. Saya, using the body impaled on his sword as a shield, fired on them with his pistol as he advanced forward. The batarian's body took the plasma bolts meant for him. When he got close enough, he kicked the body off. It bounced off the kig-yar's shields, but the distraction gave him enough time to cut them both down with his sword. He stabbed one through the eye before slashing the throat of the next.

Vik was stunned by the display, but didn't have much time to be impressed by the victory. A krogan moved out into the hall from behind a door. He carried a Revenant machine gun in his arms. He fired down the hall at the two, forcing both of them to burst through another door to safety. Vik set down a sentry behind them in the hall, but he knew that it would only last so long against a krogan.

"Okay," Vik gulped as he backed away from the door. "We just gotta kill this guy, no problem. Got any ideas, Saya?"

But when Vik looked around the fake hotel room he saw that the salarian was gone, again.

"Oh come on!" Vik shouted in disbelief. "We just had this discussion!"

Vik heard his turret in the hallways explode. Soon afterwards, the massive krogan appeared in the doorway. The crimson coloured mercenary moved into the room, his gun chattering away. Vik ducked to ground behind the bed. The gun began chewing up the piece of cheap furniture.

"And this is what I get for trusting a damn STG Agent," he growled. "Everyone knows those guys are monitoring every single extranet vid mail in the galaxy and performing covert species uplifts!"

Vik was able to cast aside his rage long enough to activate a drone.

"Okay little guy," he told it. "Kill the big stupid humpbacked saurian with the machine gun for me, please."

The little drone rolled out into the fray, sending out quick burst of electrical energy. The krogan turned to the drone and fired a full clip into it, destroying the offending ball of energy. All it had managed to do was take the krogan's eyes off the quarian for the moment.

It was long enough, however, for the quarian to stand up and fire a blast from his shotgun at the merc. The shot grievously wounded the krogan, hitting him square in the chest. Vik fired the shotgun twice more, ripping through the krogan's tough hide. The krogan got his bearings back however, and quickly fired a spray in Vik's direction. He was quick to duck down once more. He had at least hurt the krogan, too bad he hadn't killed him.

Vik tried to peer out of his cover to get a look at his attacker, only to see Saya appear out of thin air once more and rush over to slash the krogan in the throat. The Blood Pack merc reached up to grab his bleeding neck and Vik saw his chance. He jumped up again and fired two more shots at the krogan, this time aiming for his head. The giant reptile collapsed against the wall, orange blood staining the ground.

Vik walked out, determined to give the salarian a piece of his mind for so causally using him as a distraction while he waited for the krogan to get into position. But he held off on it when he saw Saya loom over the body. The salarian put his pistol up to the krogan's head and fired off two shots. The merc was already dead, but Vik could tell Saya wasn't doing it to be sure.

The salarian looked at Vik rather coldly and then walked out of the room. Vik followed reluctantly.

"And I thought I had issues," he said to himself quietly.

They got out onto the balcony carefully to see how the fight was going. Across the way, they saw a second scenario course, one that looked like a small city street from what Vik could tell. That was probably where Liara and Nel were.

"We should get some people up here to keep this place locked down and then go help them," Vik told Saya.

He wasn't sure if the salarian agreed with the assessment at first, but he did see him signal over a few Shadow Operatives nearby to move up to the mock-up. Vik in the meantime hoped Doctor T'Soni and the crazy turian were having an easier time working together.

* * *

Liara moved through the mock-up of a small diner. The scenario in general seemed to represent a city street, or perhaps even a Citadel Ward street. Either way, the implications were disturbing. Liara finally caught up to Nelanax as she fired out into the street at an upper window across from them.

"You weren't concerned about the appearance of some of these scenarios?" Liara asked her.

"They had us train on similar ones when I was still in the Hierarchy Military," Nel argued as she reloaded quickly and popped back up to fire again. "Urban street combat is typical training for any military outfit. What reason did I have to question them?"

Liara decided to drop it. The discussion wasn't really important for the moment anyway. They just needed to clear these courses and get to the second section. She'd argue with Nel about this some other time. Right now, they had to get rid of a machine gun nest of some sort. As plasma bolts flew into their little mock-up diner, she knew what kind of machine gun nest.

"We need to take that thing out quickly," she said. "My people can't move with that gunner on over watch."

"We just need to get his head down and move across the scenario's street," Nel suggested. "It should be easy enough to do, if we can get someone to draw his fire for us."

As Nel said that, two Shadow Operatives rushed in behind Liara and took cover next to the other 'window', for lack of a better word.

"The turian's training paid off for these guys," said one. "Bastards got us completely zeroed."

Liara recognized the voice as the young rookie she had met before. When he looked over to her, he noticed Nel was nearby. He was a bit taken aback.

"Uh, Doc," he stuttered. "And... turian merc lady, yeah, um, what I meant to say..."

"We need your help to get across the street," Liara told him bluntly. "Can you draw that machine gunner's fire?"

Liara pointed to the nest itself and the two operatives gave it a look.

"Okay, that's doable, I think," said the rookie somewhat hesitantly.

Liara scanned the street for a good firing position and spotted a fake car parked near their little fake diner. It gave them a good view of the machine gun, but was on the very edge of the gunner's view. They'd be harder to hit from there.

"Get to that car, rookie," Liara told him. "Me and Nelanax will cover you."

"Yeah, Doc, no problem," the rookie replied. "Oh, and it's Ben by the way."

"I'll be sure to make note of that," Liara informed him. "Now move."

Ben and his fellow operative vaulted out of the window while Nel and Liara fired on the gunner's nest. When they got to the car, they began laying down suppressing fire on the nest themselves. The gunner shifted his view and that was their cue. Liara threw herself out the front door of the fake diner and made a dash across the street. Nelanax was right behind her.

As they made their way across to the building, they took fire from the right side. Unggoy, guarded by a few kig-yar, were firing on them in the open street. Nelanax shifted fire to them, firing a concussive shot at one kig-yar before raking the unggoy behind him with fire. The kig-yar quickly recovered from the strike, but by then Liara was already throwing herself through an open window in a building across the street.

Liara picked herself up and looked around the area. The mock up's interior suggested it was some kind of store. There were shelves, a terminal on a desk and a few display cases at the front. As Liara surveyed her surroundings, Nelanax burst in through the door with her gun pointed back to the street. She fired a careful burst and then backed away.

"Just popped me another melon," she grinned. "You know what they say; a mind is a terrible thing to-"

"Please do not finish that sentence," Liara ordered her sternly.

"I suppose it's not as clever as it used to be," Nelanax admitted, once again missing the point.

Liara looked to the wall on their right.

"Behind there is the gunner's building," she told Nelanax. "Is there a back door we can use to go around and get in? I don't want to go out into the exposed street again."

"No, but I got a better idea," Nel informed her.

The turian put away her rifle, something that perplexed Liara. Then, when she saw the turian taking a running stance, the action alarmed her.

"Wait, that's not-"

But once again, Nel wasn't listening.

"Here comes the pain train! WOO-WOO!"

Nelanax charged the wall, and the flimsy shell of facade gave away. She rushed straight into a kig-yar and tackled him to the ground. Without even missing a beat, she dug her talons deep into his eye sockets and pushed. The gruesome screams of the poor alien filled the room as Nel straddled his body.

"Now that's what I call an eye-full," Nel laughed sinisterly.

Liara finally stepped into the room through the hole Nel had so graciously made for her. She found herself now in a tower with a spiral staircase leading up to the top floor. The entire mock up building seemed to be supported by a single support pillar that stretched upwards to the top and spread out horizontal beams like branches towards the four walls around them. It was simplistic in design, but also an unexpected architectural choice for a simple training mock-up.

Eventually, the turian managed to pull herself away from her latest victim long enough to remember she was there.

"I got to pick at his brain a bit," Nel said holding up her bloody talons. "Wanna know what was on his mind?"

Liara had lost track of all the one-liners she had heard from Nel in the past minute or so. She hadn't enjoyed one of them. Now that they were getting increasingly disturbing she liked them even less.

"Is this fun for you?" Liara asked while wearing a deadly serious tone in her voice.

The turian's grin was replaced with a look of abject confusion.

"Is that a trick question?" Nel asked, seemingly confused.

A lesser person would've punched the turian for that, but Liara knew better. Besides, Nel would probably like it and try and flirt with her again. She'd probably say "I like it rough' or something else equally as corny and stupid.

"Focus," Liara ordered her. "And before you even say anything, I do not mean on my chest."

Nel's eyes quickly sprung up to Liara's face.

"I wasn't," she denied fervently. "It was your legs, I swear."

Liara took one deep breath and calmed herself.

"We need to get up to the top floor of this place and take out the gunner," she reminded her. "I need you to stop thinking about stupid one-liners for a moment and keep your mind on the task at hand. Can you do that?"

"Calm your sexy blue ass down," Nel assured her. "I came up with a plan of action before we even got here. We don't need to go all the way upstairs."

Nel pulled out a frag grenade from her belt and lobbed it up and down in her palm.

"We just set a few high explosives on the central beam and make the whole place come tumbling down," she informed her rather nonchalantly. "No need to over exert ourselves and we get an explosion out of it, it's a win-win."

"That is such a pointless and needlessly excessive plan," Liara replied back, now at the edge of her boiling point. "You're going to bring down a building to kill just one enemy soldier?"

"Is this another trick question?" Nelanax asked once again.

Liara didn't even get a chance to show her exasperation with a long drawn out sigh. Instead, the wall opposite to the one they entered through burst open. A sangheili had apparently opted to make the same entrance as Nelanax had. The Covie carried two small plasma daggers in each hand. Liara pointed her gun at the eight-foot creature, but Nelanax stood in her field of fire, her grin back once more.

"You call those knives?" She asked, on the verge of laughing.

Nel then pulled out her own blade, a turian military-issue combat knife, from her boot and held it in her hands.

"So where do you want me to stick it in you, sweetie?" She asked the sangheili in a faux flirty tone. "I promise to be gentle."

The sangheili charged at the turian, as did she. Nel dodged the first first and second swings rather easily and got around to the alien's back. She slashed her knife across his shoulder, before getting elbowed in the face and pushed back.

"Gonna have to hit me harder if you wanna make me bleed!" She informed the alien with a tinge of rage in her voice.

When the sangheili thrust forward again, Nelanax rolled to the side and slashed across his thigh. She then came up behind the alien and stabbed her knife into his back. The sangheili jumped forward and threw the turian off him. He rushed over to stab the downed turian, but Liara quickly threw a biotic attack that sent the sangheili into the support pillar with enough force to lightly crack it. She then went over to help Nelanax up.

"You alright?" She asked her.

"Fine," she assured her grinning. "Trust me, he's gonna be in worse shape than me in about two seconds."

Nel then activated three of her grenades and tossed them at the sangheili, who was still lying against the support beam. Liara's eyes went wide when she realised what Nel had just done. When the grenades landed at the feet of the sangheili, Nel jumped up and grabbed Liara by the hand. They ran out of the mock-up tower as the explosives detonated and the support beam was split in two at the base. The tower began to topple over onto the street, forcing Liara and Nel to run up the street so as not to get crushed by the collapsing mock-up.

The scenario structure collapsed into a huge pile of debris. As she brushed herself off, Liara was just happy to see the collapse hadn't killed any of her people. Nel was just happy to have gotten her explosion.

"Boom, baby!" She cried aloud. "That is how it's done!"

"No it isn't!" Liara shouted at her in anger. "You could've killed someone!"

"I thought that was the point," Nel answered back.

"You could've killed one of **my** people!" Liara clarified, her fists balled. "I told you before, this is not a vid! You used to be in the premier frontline unit of the Hierarchy Military. They're supposed to be disciplined, ordered, real soldiers. Not gun crazy buffoons acting out a murder-spree fantasy!"

Nel continued to look at Liara rather calmly. She seemed more at ease than before, less manic in her expressions. For a moment, Liara thought she had gotten through to her. That she finally understood that this was supposed to be serious.

Then Nel opened her mouth.

"You're really hot when you're angry," she said rather plainly.

Liara was about to just say 'screw it' and punch the clearly insane woman out for her continued refusal to listen. Damn whatever the consequences, it would make her feel better. Thankfully, someone's timely arrival brought her back to the situation at hand.

Vik and Saya approached the duo through the wrecked scenario's courses streets. The Shadow Operatives were already clearing up the stragglers within the area now. Only a few unggoy and batarians left, nothing as dangerous as a krogan or sangheili. It was relatively safe for them to march down the open street now. They spotted the collapsed tower on their way over.

"The hell happened?" Vik asked.

Liara only eyed Nelanax in response. Vik didn't seem too surprised by the news.

"We need to push to the personnel quarters," Liara told them all, trying to keep everyone focused. "The remaining Swords and Covenant are going to regroup there for a final stand."

"So we go up the main passage to them then?" Vik asked somewhat concerned. "They'll be expecting that by now."

"It's the only way to get there," Liara reminded him.

"Actually," Nel interjected. "There is another passage."

* * *

Behind a solid steel door lay one last scenario course, one that would lead them to the direct flank of the second section. While Wrex and his krogan assaulted the main passage, Liara would take everyone else through this passage and hopefully catch the enemy off guard. She didn't expect to the passage deserted, but she was banking on Wrex's attack to draw most of the enemy their way.

Now if Vik could just figure out how to unlock the doors, they'd be set. However, the quarian seemed to be struggling with the locking mechanism. After attempting to and failing to unlock it through hacking, Vik went back to the old standard of getting into the guts of the door.

"This thing looks like it's been welded together with scrap metal," Vik asked as his omni-tool burned away at the internal mechanism. "Does the lock even function?"

"When I was working here we simply blew the door," Nel explained. "It's part of the exercise."

"Well would it have hurt to put someone in charge of fixing it afterwards who wasn't an idiot?" Vik asked again. "If I slapped this shit together back on the fleet, I'd probably be exiled just for incompetence."

After cutting another locking clamp, Vik tried to push the door open again. It remained stuck. Frustrated now, Vik slammed his fist onto the door's holographic display, now flashing from green to red to signify an internal error.

"Fuck it," he stated fuming, flicking on his omni-tool. "I'm overloading the pressure valve."

It took a few seconds before Vik's tampering kicked in. He increased the door's pressure output to the point it began to smoke and vent steam. The door suddenly slid open violently. Nel was the first one inside the course, her gun pointed forward. Everyone followed after her.

As they made their way inside, Liara looked around the darkened passage. There were only a few lights strung along the walls, but she could tell what this scenario represented. The small tables among the rows of seats, the large outcroppings on the sides that represented windows, the spacious walkway that stretched forward, there was little doubt as to what this was.

"Is this supposed to be a passenger liner?" Vik asked in a whisper to Nelanax. "How did this seem at all on the up and up to you?"

"Terrorists take over liners and the military retakes them," Nel replied back. "I wasn't about to jump to conclusions."

"Why does that still sound like denial?" Vik asked again.

Liara hushed at them both. She motioned everyone to go into cover, just as a small squad of batarians rounded the corner with weapons drawn. In the distance, Liara could hear Wrex's attack. They would need to get by these guys fast.

The first to strike was Saya, lurching up from one of the seats to slice into the neck of one batarian. The attack garnered enough attention from his fellows that they began opening fire on the rows of seats. Saya jumped back into cover, while Kayap fired a stream of needles at one of the batarians. The resulting explosion scattered a few of his comrades and elicited a cheerful cry from the unggoy defector.

As that batarian exploded in a pink mist, Vik moved up the row. He kept his head low and a drone by his side. Kayap moved up with him. As a batarian came around the corner, the quarian fired a full blast from his shotgun that knocked him back on the floor. The quarian rushed over to the downed batarian and fired the gun point blank in his face.

"Slaver scum," he growled before quickly moving on, Kayap behind him.

Nelanax kept spraying rounds from her Phaeston as she walked up the rows of seats. The batarians could move, only slink back seat by seat and hope they wouldn't get picked off. When she reached a small alcove that separated the rows of seats, she grabbed a bayonet attachment from off her belt. She slapped it onto her Phaeston and barrelled out of cover. One batarian stood up to fire at her from the seats, only for a blade cut deep into his stomach.

"School's out for summer," she quipped.

Nelanax saw another batarian pop-up from the seats across from her. She didn't bother to remove his impaled compatriot before turning to face him and then firing through the impaled body several times. The bullets exited out of the dead batarian's back and shot down his friend where he stood.

"School's out forever," she decreed.

Nel looked beside her to see Vik giving her a glare.

"Well, they're my former students," she began to explain. "This is practically a school where they train bad guys and we're shutting it down. Get it now?"

Vik's glare remained and Nel just stuck her tongue out at him.

"This stuff is wasted on you," she proclaimed.

"Where did you get it?" Vik asked in a deadpan manner.

"From 'Deadly Times at Vallum High'," she answered in disbelief. "You know, it's the one where the krogan mercenaries infiltrate and take over an entire school the Primarch is visiting on Taetrus."

Vik just shook his head and kept moving up. Nelanax groaned at him as he left.

"Like I said, wasted!" She called out.

Liara and Saya had moved up ahead, chasing after the batarians as they retreated out of the fake passenger liner. A singularity stopped two of them before they could get very far, pulling them back towards the scenario course. Saya then quickly shot them both in the head with his pistol as they twirled around in the air.

With the passage secured, Liara's forces poured out of the scenario course. Ahead of them they saw the living quarters for the entire base. They were already fighting Wrex's forces as they pushed forward through the main passage. Now, with them on the left side, their flank was completely exposed.

"We take that living space and this place is shut down for good," Liara informed everyone. "Move in teams, stay together, clear the structures one by one."

With those simple instructions, the assembled Shadow Operatives moved forward. Liara, Vik, Kayap, Saya and Nelanax were right behind them. They caught the batarians on the frontal barricades completely by surprise and forced them to fall back into the assorted makeshift structures that dotted the open space.

What had once been their resting place only hours before, had become the last line of defence for the remaining Swords, Covenant and Blood Pack mercs. Shadow Operatives, backed by Urdnot warriors, kicked in door after door. They slowly, but surely, rooted out the desperate defenders within. They used whatever they had for cover, but it was a futile endeavour.

Nelanax tossed a grenade into one building. After it exploded, she rushed in firing like mad at the assembled vorcha and kig-yar within. The incendiary rounds from her Phaeston scorched the flesh of the vorcha, removing any chance they had at healing quickly.

The kig-yar fired back with their plasma pistols and Nel had to go to ground behind an overturned bed, but she was not deterred. She tossed another grenade into their ranks and the resulting explosion killed two of them. The remaining kig-yar were disoriented from the shock just enough for Nelanax to finish them off with quick shots to their heads.

"A for effort, class," she wisecracked at the assorted corpses.

Kayap and Vik were a little less bombastic in their approach of clearing a structure. Inside were some of the remaining Swords recruits. Taking a quick peak in, Vik noticed one of them was armed with a striker assault rifle. He had an idea of how to use that to their advantage.

"I'm going to engage first," he told Kayap. "When I pull back, toss one of those sticky grenades you carry around."

Kayap nodded at Vik in compliance. With that, the quarian made his move. He opened the door wide and used his omni-tool to activate a sabotage program that hacked into the Striker Assault Rifle. He opened fire with his pistol on the batarian, not really intending to hit anyone with it. He just wanted to goad the batarian into trying to fire his krogan-made grenade rifle.

The batarian did indeed try to fire the gun, but the weapon backfired tremendously. The blast radius enveloped the batarian and two others nearby, knocking them to the ground and gravely injuring them. Kayap then appeared in the doorway with a glowing blue plasma grenade.

"Tossing one!" He shouted out.

The grenade flew across the room and landed on the back of one of the downed batarians. The resulting explosion finished off the other downed Sword recruits and scattered the two that were still alive. Vik dropped a sentry into the room as he entered and let it chew up one of the batarians as he walked over to another that was still downed. He placed his shotgun up to his face.

"Fascist," Vik said in a grim tone, a vengeful look in his eyes.

He then pulled the trigger. The resulting shot plastered the batarian's head across the floor.

Kayap moved in to kick one of the dead bodies a little, more to make sure he was dead than anything.

"We win!" He said happily. "We win fight!"

Vik's manner quickly shifted. His callous demeanour towards the batarian from seconds before faded. It was replaced with a more pleasant and sociable nature as he spoke to Kayap.

"Yeah, we sure showed these bosh'tets, didn't we?" He responded, sounding rather upbeat. "Let's find Liara, she's probably finishing things up on her end."

Indeed Liara was finishing up things. She, Wrex and Saya had regrouped near the armoury, where one last sangheili was making his stand. He was inside some kind of three legged turret that shot out purple plasma at them. It kept all three of them pinned behind one the living quarters.

"Think a carnage shot can knock him over?" Wrex asked the asari.

"Try it," she told him. "But I want Saya to get into position behind him just in case."

The salarian obliged her request, turning on his cloak and vanishing from sight. Wrex then leaned out to fire a carnage shot at the turret. He scored a direct hit and the explosion flipped the turret over. The sangheili scrambled out of the wreck and took up his plasma weapon. This one appeared to be a two-handed version of the much smaller one Liara had seen other sangheili using. It was fully automatic as well, allowing him to keep both Wrex and Liara stuck behind their cover.

"He can't possibly keep that fire up forever," Wrex noted.

Sure enough the plasma fire stopped. Liara looked out to see the weapon had overheated, blue steam pouring out of the vents on the side. Apparently, being a bigger rifle meant the weapon overheated even quicker. Taking the chance, Liara rushed out to send a powerful throw that knocked the sangheili backwards. She fired her pistol a few times at him as he tried to get up, but it was more to keep his focus on her.

Liara could see the shift in light behind the sangheili. Suddenly, Saya's sword cut deep into the sangheili's back. However, while the alien screamed in pain, he didn't fall. With the sword still stuck in him, he turned and smacked the Saya across the face, putting him down. The sangheili's survival was only temporary though, as Wrex used the moment to close in and bulldoze the Covie to the ground. The sangheili tried to stand up again, but Wrex slammed his foot onto the alien's head, crushing it.

Saya got up from the ground and went over the downed sangheili. He pulled the sword out of the corpse and placed back into its sheath. The gunfire had died down and from all appearances the camp seemed to have been taken.

"Well, another day, another pit of pyjaks taken down," Wrex observed.

"I still want inside that armoury," Liara told Wrex.

Liara's men soon gathered around the armoury and she pinpointed Ben among the crowd.

"Find Vik'Sajee and get him here," she ordered him.

Ben nodded and went off to locate the quarian. Meanwhile, Liara looked around for another of their squad mates, but she could not see her.

"Where's Nelanax?" She asked.

* * *

Nel dug deep into the locker, moving the assorted junk scattered about at a hectic pace. She growled to herself in frustration as she kept pulling the garbage out. She hadn't been gone for a few days and they had already turned the locker into a damn dumpster. She knew she should've locked it up better.

"They better not have touched it," she mumbled aloud to herself. "If they touched it I'll find a way to bring them back so I can fuck them over again."

She threw away an old pack, some cans of Tupari drink, and a few data pads before finally reaching the bottom of the locker. She sifted her talons over it, checking to see if it had been tampered with. It looked like it hadn't been touched, but there was only one way to be sure. She pried the loose panel away to reveal a metal box beneath it.

"Please still be all there," she whispered desperately. "Please be all there."

She opened the box carefully, her hands trembling as she did. Once opened though, her talons calmed and she smiled wide. It was all there, untouched, no one had found them.

"Hi there babies, mama's come back for you," she said in an almost airy voice.

But as soon as she heard one of the hut's doors open, she slammed the box shut and stuck it in one of her armour's ammo compartments. She turned to see Vik's visor-hidden face looking at her.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

Nel's eyes scanned the room, noticing the mess she had left in her wake.

"Sorry, just cleaning out my old locker," she explained hastily. "Not gonna be using it now that I'm running with you guys."

Vik looked at her a bit suspiciously, but he quickly backed off.

"The Doc needs to see you," he explained. "I've opened the armoury and she wants you to take a look at something."

* * *

Vik returned with Nelanax in tow and Liara had her men bring out the box they had found inside.

"We recovered a lot of high-tech military grade gear," she began. "Rifles, grenades, heavy weapons, but this is the most intriguing."

Liara opened the box for Nelanax to see. Inside, surrounded by memory foam, were several cybernetic implant components. Nelanax bent down to give them a look, trying to discern what they were for. It didn't take long.

"These look like motor-sensory components," she observed. "The Hierarchy implants these in soldiers, similar to biotic implants. Only these are supposed to increase depth perception and targeting capability, not super-powers."

"So Cyber-Legionnaire isn't complete science fiction then?" Liara asked.

"We use them to make our people better snipers, faster runners or stronger soldiers in general," Nelanax continued. "Except I've never seen these models before, they could be new."

"My only concern is how they got them," Liara explained. "Cybernetics don't come cheap, especially Hierarchy Military grade ones."

Nel looked around the box, particularly along either side. Eventually she spotted something and pointed to it. It was a serial code.

"That's your best bet at figuring that out," she explained. "The serial should tell us where it's from, but all Turian Military components, guns or otherwise, would likely be encrypted as a security precaution. We can't have Sepies snag one of these things and then figure out where they could find a supply depot to get more."

"Would the rest of these weapons be as traceable?" Liara asked.

"More than likely," Nelanax answered. "But again, they'll be encrypted."

Liara turned to Vik.

"I want you to work on cracking the serial code," she told him. "We'll bring everything in here aboard regardless. We can't risk the batarians or the Covenant coming back to reclaim it. After that's done, we'll set this place to blow. We can't have them setting up shop here again."

Vik nodded and everything began to load up the items in the armoury. Meanwhile, Liara took Nelanax aside.

"Why would they bring cybernetics here?" She asked. "Do they have the proper facilities to surgically attach the implants?"

"We have an infirmary," Nelanax admitted. "It's possible that could've been good enough for their needs. The procedure isn't that complicated, although it is expensive to develop the implants."

"Meaning we're looking for someone with a lot of capital," Liara concurred.

Liara looked over to Kayap, who was assisting in bringing the weapons out from the armoury.

"I recall that you were able to translate Kayap's language back at Charlan," she said to Nel rather plainly, still looking at Kayap. "Is it possible you can give him a translator programmed so we could better understand him in kind?"

"Sure," Nel nodded. "There's probably a few in armoury itself actually. We'd just have to get it to fit inside that mask of his so it will work."

"Good, get us one and we'll see about having Vik install it," Liara told her. "I think it would be a lot easier for us to work together if we're able to understand one another."

Nel nodded and tried to leave, but Liara stopped her by placing her open palm on her chest.

"Do we understand each other?" She asked her sternly.

"About what?" Nel asked in return.

"If this is going to work, you are going to listen to me," she explained. "And by that, I mean you will stop hearing and seeing what you want to hear and see. You're not freelance anymore. You're working for me and the ShadowNet. If you want excitement, you've gotten it. Congratulations on that. But we're already in a pretty hectic situation as is. I don't need you adding to it with your stunts."

Nel's eyes glared at the asari.

"I got the job done, didn't I?" Nel enquired, sounding a little irritated.

"I knew a turian once like yourself who had to learn the difference between getting the job done fast and getting it done right," Liara told her. "Before this is over, I promise you, you will learn the difference between doing it your way and doing it right."

Nel seemed to smile.

"I do like a woman who takes charge," she said through her toothy grin.

"I ask again," Liara said once more, her tone even more firm than before. "Do we understand each other?"

"Yeah," Nel replied. "I get it."

Liara let the turian go, but she wasn't entirely convinced that Nel did understand. It took more than one talk for Shepard to get through to Garrus after all. Wrex soon approached Liara as she watched Nel walk off to the armoury.

"Rough day, huh?" He asked.

"I'm getting used to it," Liara replied.

"Cheer up, T'Soni," Wrex said, trying to sound encouraging. "You sounded like a leader there and we took the camp. This is a win, enjoy it."

Liara looked up at Wrex with a slightly renewed smile.

"Is this how Wreav is for you back on Tuchanka?" She asked him.

"Nah," Wrex replied. "She's crazy, he's just stupid. Those are mutually exclusive issues."

Liara finally laughed at something for first time today.

"Maybe you can give her lessons on not stealing her lines from crappy action vids," she suggested to Wrex with a chuckle.

"Sorry, I'm not sharing my material, T'Soni," Wrex told her half-jokingly. "You're just going to have to grin and bear it."

* * *

AN: Another chapter down in the space of a month. I'm really flying now. We may be at Silent Cartographer by August at this rate.

So, this chapter showed a few cracks in Liara's team dynamics. I think it's pretty obvious that she picked a pretty mismatched crew at this point. As the theme song to Disney's "Dave the Barbarian" went, "They ain't the greatest heroes, but they're the only ones we got." More on this on the profile page.

Again, I'm still asking for those who haven't yet to see about supporting "World War Kaiju." The link is still up on my profile page for those interested and I'm going to be doing a little contest of sorts in the hopes of getting your interest up. Details for this are also up on the profile page. If I get a good response for it, we'll go ahead with it.

The next chapter awaits us. Where were those Cyborg parts from? Can this group of misfits actually pull together? What does Kayap sound like when he doesn't have to speak in a broken language that Liara's translator can only half understand? Say goodbye to Gollum-speech guys, Kayap's about to get another upgrade.


End file.
